Who will be India’s wicket-keeper in IND vs BAN T20 series? With Rishabh Pant likely to get a rest from the T20 series, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan emerged as the two frontrunners. However, with Ishan Kishan getting a call-up for the Irani Cup instead of Sanju Samson, there is a hint. The Irani Cup ends on Oct 5 while the India vs Bangladesh T20 series begins on Oct 6, Ishan won’t be available for the 1st T20 at least. Hence, Samson could don the big gloves in IND vs BAN 1st T20.
Rest of India squad for Irani Cup
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK)*, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal*, Ricky Bhui, Shashwat Rawat, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar
Why Sanju Samson is ahead?
Despite twin failures in Sri Lanka with consecutive ducks, Sanju Samson is all set to get a lifeline. While Ishan Kishan also scored a century in the Duleep Trophy, Sanju too smashed 106 and 45 in the Duleep Trophy.
Now, as the selectors are looking at Ishan as a backup in the Test, Sanju will get another T20 series to prove his mettle.
“Look, I would like to see Sanju Samson get a little bit of a better run at number four. Now that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not there, I think he’s done extremely well in the small opportunities that he’s got. And I’d like to see him get more opportunities,” former India all-rounder Stuart Binny told InsideSport.
As for Ishan Kishan, he last played a T20I back in November 2023. However, his records in the last two years in T20Is haven’t been great. To make things worse for him, in IPL 2024, he scored 320 runs at an average of 22.86. Sanju Samson surpassed him in IPL too with a 531-run campaign
Race for India’s T20 wicketkeeper
| Player | Inns | Runs | Avg | SR | 50/100 | HS | Dismissals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanju Samson | 11 | 148 | 16.44 | 124.36 | 1/0 | 58 | 14 |
| Ishan Kishan | 13 | 253 | 19.46 | 111.94 | 2/0 | 58 | 8 |
| Rishabh Pant | 15 | 275 | 21.15 | 130.95 | 0/0 | 49 | 20 |
| Dhruv Jurel | 1 | 6 | 6 | 42.85 | 0/0 | 6 | 2 |
What about Rishabh Pant?
There is also a curious case of Rishabh Pant. The southpaw is still India’s No 1 wicketkeeper-batter irrespective of the format. However, as India will play eight more Tests in the lead-up to the WTC Final 2025, managing his workload. Pant is still coming back after a long 18-month layoff following the near-fatal car crash in December 2022.
Hence, the team management might not force him to play in the IND vs BAN T20 series. India will take on New Zealand in the Test series four days after the Bangladesh T20 series.
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