India picked Rishabh Pant in the first T20I against Sri Lanka ahead of Sanju Samson, who scored a fifty in his previous T20I against Zimbabwe earlier in July. Here are the possible reasons behind the selection call.

With seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is, the series marked the beginning of a new era for India under the guidance of newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir.

While the world champions look to rebuild their team with a new captain in Suryakumar Yadav at the helm, one omission which sparked outrage from a certain section of Indian fans is Samson’s. Instead, India opted for Pant as the wicketkeeper.

Gambhir once rated Samson highly

Back in 2020, Gambhir once hailed Samson as the “best young batsman in India”. Given the lofty praise, Samson falling out of Gambhir’s scheme of things in his maiden assignment as India's head coach is a move that’s baffling to some.

But in hindsight, Samson was somewhat expected to warm the bench in the T20I series opener in Sri Lanka after finding himself out of the ODI team, having scored a century in his last match against South Africa. Though that was harsh for the wicketkeeper batter, given he starred with a 58 in his last T20I appearance as well, the decision wasn't void of merit.

Pant always ahead in the pecking order

Once Pant was named in the squad, his place was virtually sealed ahead of Samson in the playing XI. There are two reasons to back the argument. One: India continuously preferred Pant over Samson during their victorious 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. Having returned from a near-fatal injury, he was India's third-highest run-getter, but the strike rate of 127.61 might have been a cause of worry. Under a new leadership, India have opted for the same continuity.

In general India didn't want to tinker with the team composition. Like the World Cup, India went with two spin-bowling all-rounders, giving Riyan Parag the nod ahead of Shivam Dube in the traditionally spin-conducive Sri Lankan surfaces. Going forward, it’s something they will look to stick to make their batting as long as possible without compromising their bowling resources.

Given Rinku Singh's emergence as a finisher and Hardik Pandya’s comeback, squeezing Samson in would always be a tough job.

Playing at No.4, Pant today was struggling to connect the ball initially but recovered to finish with a 33-ball 49. India, having got a rampant start of 74-1 in the powerplay, weren’t affected much by the slowdown as they reached 213-7, courtesy of 58 off 26 from Surya.

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