 "Rishabh Pant was preferred over Sanju Samson in India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. PTI")
Former pacer Zaheer Khan believes that wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will be India’s X-factor for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and has no doubt about the impact that he will create during the tournament. Pant was picked over Sanju Samson in India’s squad despite the Kerala batter’s impressive form in the limited-overs format recently.
Pant made his Team India comeback in more than a year in 2024 during the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA that the Men in Blue went on to lift. “He’s an X-factor player. So, when you are looking at having an X-factor player in your team, it’s going to be an added advantage all the time," Zaheer told Cricbuzz.
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“That’s why the expectations are on him, and he’s also determined. When you’re looking at him and being part of the team, obviously he’s there to make it count and have that impact," he added.
Samson has slammed three centuries in the last six T20Is he has batted for India. Two of them came against South Africa in December last year, whereas another one came against Bangladesh earlier that year. Samson, however, last played an ODI against South Africa in December 2023 in Paarl, where he cored a match-winning century.
Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, opined the Pant was preferred over Samson not just because the former is a left-handed, but also probably due to the fact that Samson did not turn up to play for Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
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“It almost had to happen, isn’t it? It was either Rishabh Pant or Sanju Samson. I know you can look at both of them as pure batters, but I think they have tilted towards Rishabh Pant for just the one reason: because he is a left-hander.
“He can give that differential variable that they are looking for in the batting order. But Sanju Samson was so close, and the fact that he didn’t play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, I am sure, has played a part in that too,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
KCA president unhappy with Samson
Jayesh George, the president of Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), was reportedly unhappy with Samson refusing to participate in the training camp ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “I am not sure if Samson missing the tournament was the reason he was excluded. The reason he was not added in the Vijay Hazare squad was because he sent a one-line text saying he would not be available for the 30-member preparatory camp.
“We were all of the impression that he would be leading the team since he is our white-ball captain and had led in the SMAT season as well,” he told MediaOne.