T20 WC: India’s keeper slot still up for grabs

‘We haven’t got an answer’: Aakash Chopra on wicketkeeper options for India’s T20 WC squad

IMAGE: Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma are yet to prove their mettle. Photograph: BCCI

Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that both wicketkeeper-batters Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma are yet to prove their mettle for a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad as they were unable to prove themselves following the chances they got during the T20Is against Afghanistan.

The former opener stated that India has not got the answer as to whom to go with for the slot of wicket-keeper as Jitesh played the first two matches and Samson played the last match of the three-match series against Afghanistan but they were not able to score runs in the opportunities they got.

“We haven’t got an answer to the question that who would be our keeper. Jitesh Sharma was played the first two matches. After that, Sanju Samson was played a match. Jitesh batted well in the first match, didn’t open his account in the second, and Sanju didn’t open his account in the third,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Jitesh played the first two games, scoring 31 and 0 while Samson was also out for a golden duck in the final game.

In nine T20Is and seven innings, Jitesh has scored 100 runs at an average of 14.28 and a strike rate of over 147.05, with the best score of 35.

Samson has also been inconsistent. In 25 T20Is and 22 innings, he has made 374 runs at an average of 18.70 and a strike rate of over 133, with just one half-century.

The 46-year-old further said that he will not pick anyone because Jitesh has not lived up to expectations and on the other hand Samson has wasted the chances he has got so far.

“If you ask me who would go, I would say I do not know who would go. Jitesh hasn’t confirmed his spot, Sanju wasted the one chance he got, Ishan Kishan hasn’t been able to be a part of the race thus far, and they did not pick KL Rahul,” former Kolkata Knight Riders batter added.

Ishan and KL have better returns than Samson and Jitesh though their slow playing style has come under scrutiny.