As the Indian selectors pick the national squad for the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Bangladesh on Thursday all eyes are on who all will get the nod for the wicketkeeper's spot. The indications are that Rishabh Pant is likely to be joined by Kerala's Sanju Samson in the squad.
Pant has been struggling with the bat of late and saw his place in the Test eleven being taken by Wriddhiman Saha. However, the selectors are likely to persist with him in the shortest format of the game as he is a genuine match-winner on his day.
Sanju, who too is a strokeplayer, hogged the limelight recently by smashing an unbeaten 212 against Goa in the national one-day championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is also the highest score by a wicketkeeper-batsman in List A cricket. He also played a match-winning 91 off 48 balls against South Africa 'A' recently.
Sanju has been rated highly by former India 'A' coach Rahul Dravid. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir too has been a vocal supporter of Sanju.
The 24-year-old had played one T20I against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2015. He made only 19 as India went on to lose the match by 10 runs. He was also part of the Indian one-day team during the tour of England in 2014, but failed to find a place in the playing eleven.
It is unlikely that the sectors will include veteran wicketkeeper-batsman M S Dhoni for the Bangladesh series. Dhoni has not played any competitive cricket after India's loss to New Zealand in the ICC World Cup semifinal in July. The former Indian skipper has not yet made his plans public.
Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube too is tipped to make it to the Indian squad in the absence of seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya who is recuperating after a back surgery. Dube, who is a left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pacer, has been in fine form for India 'A'.
With less than one year to go for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, the selectors as well as new Board of Control for Cricket in India chief Sourav Ganguly will be determined to explore all options as the Men in Blue hope to end a seven-year wait for a global title.
