Former Indian cricketer Reetinder Sodhi said that first-choice wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has become a liability for the Indian team, so it’s important to bring Sanju Samson for that role in T20Is. He feels that the team management has already given Pant a lot of opportunities but he has failed to do well in the ICC tournaments or the T20 World Cup.

Speaking to India News on Wednesday, Reetinder Sodhi said: “He is becoming a liability for Team India. If it’s like this, then bring in Sanju Samson. End of the day, you got to take that chance because you cannot afford to lose and exit in World Cup or ICC tournaments.”When you give too many chances, problems arise. The time has come to provide opportunities to new guys. Only time will tell how many opportunities and how long he gets. Time is passing and he really has to tighten his shoes. Everything has a limit. You cannot depend on one player for so long. If he is not performing, you got to show him the exit door.”

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However, Rishabh Pant scored 6 and 11 in his two innings against New Zealand in the recently concluded T20I series. In the T20 World Cup, he got out after single-digit scores of three and six as well. In 2022, he has scored 364 runs in 21 innings at an average of 21.41, including only one fifty. On the other hand, Sanju Samson has scored 179 runs in five innings this year at 44.75. He didn’t get a game in T20Is against New Zealand. He played his last T20I in the West Indies in August as well.

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“We all know Rishabh Pant is a match-winner, but you don’t score runs. You don’t help win your team. You got the opportunity in an important event like World Cup. I accept that initially, he didn’t get the opportunity, but whenever you get a chance, your job is to perform, which has not happened. It’s time that selectors think beyond him,” Reetinder Sodhi concluded.