India vs New Zealand T20: Rishabh Pant disappoints again, Sanju Samson fans want him in team

Rishabh Pant's second failure in the ongoing India-New Zealand T20 series has turned the voices of Sanju Samson's fans louder, who want the Rajasthan Royal player to become a permanent member in the Indian team. Samson, who is the captain of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, has not been selected in playing XI in both the first and the second match of the ongoing series. Samson and Pant, both wicketkeepers, are the top contenders to keep wickets for Team India after Dinesh Karthik's average performance in the World Cup.

India lost three early wickets in the powerplay, which slowed down their start to the 161-run chase. Ishan Kishan lost his wicket for ten runs, and Tim Southee took two in a single over. He dismissed Shreyas Iyer after packing Rishabh Pant for 11 and a first-ball duck.

Let’s take a sneak peek at his performance in T20 matches:

In the second T20I, Pant was sent as the opener and managed only 6 runs off 13 balls. The 25-year-old had previously scored 6 and 3 against England and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup 2022, making this his third consecutive score in the single digits.

The wicketkeeper-batter has only amassed 346 runs at a strike rate of 135.6 in the 22 T20I games played in 2022. Sanju Samson has scored 179 runs in six Twenty20 Internationals matches in 2022 despite having limited opportunities.

Samson has scored at least 140 runs, which is an impressive strike rate.
The right-handed batter, who was also under pressure, maintained composure and scored an unbeaten 30 against the West Indies.

Earlier, fans of Sanju Samson took to Twitter to express their outrage following the announcement of Team India's starting lineup for the second T20I match against New Zealand. Samson was left off the playing 11 for Mount Maunganui's second T20I as the cause. Fans of Samson believe he should have been a part of the playing XI.
 

Also Read: India vs NZ T20 match: Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh’s terrific bowling help India restrict New Zealand to 160