Kapil Dev is usually very impressed with the current crop of Indian youngsters. He has often reserved the highest of praises for most young and talented players, but at the same time has been vocal about his criticism for some. Heading into the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia, one area which promises to attract more attention than others in the Indian team is that of the wicketkeepers. With as many as four wicketkeeper-batters in contention in Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik, it will be interesting to see how many get the nod.
If it was up to Kapil to pick between the four stars, the former India captain says he will be torn as he finds all of them equally capable with the bat and behind the stumps. However, there is one keeper among them whom Kapil is 'extremely upset' with, and that is captain of the Rajasthan Royals Sanju Samson. India's first-ever World Cup winning captain, Kapil believes that given the talent Samson possess, his returns with the bat do not justify it.
"To be honest, if I have to pick a better wicketkeeper between the three (Karthik, Ishan and Samson), I would say they're almost at the same level. I can't say there is much difference. But in terms of batting, each one is better than the other. On a given day, all three can win the match for India on their own accord. If you speak of Wriddhiman (Saha), I would say he is a better batter among the three but the remaining are far superior batsmen. I am extremely upset with Sanju Samson. He is so talented. But the guy scores in 1-2 matches and then fails. Has no consistency," Kapil told Uncut.
{{/usCountry}}"To be honest, if I have to pick a better wicketkeeper between the three (Karthik, Ishan and Samson), I would say they're almost at the same level. I can't say there is much difference. But in terms of batting, each one is better than the other. On a given day, all three can win the match for India on their own accord. If you speak of Wriddhiman (Saha), I would say he is a better batter among the three but the remaining are far superior batsmen. I am extremely upset with Sanju Samson. He is so talented. But the guy scores in 1-2 matches and then fails. Has no consistency," Kapil told Uncut.
{{/usCountry}}Samson has been given several runs with the Indian team but he hasn't made it count and fallen behind in the pecking order. Samson has played 13 T20Is for India and scored 174 runs without a single half-century of fifty. Samson's last two seasons with RR has seen him score 484 and 458 runs respectively but despite leading the franchise to IPL 2022 final, he missed making it to India's squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa.