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Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, remarked that Rishabh Pant made the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 ahead of Sanju Samson because he is a bigger game changer than his counterpart. The statement from the 75-year-old came at the same time when he considers Sanju Samson as a better batter than Rishabh Pant, while feeling disappointed about the Kerala-born cricketer’s omission from the Indian squad for next month’s tournament.
Notably, it was reported that Sanju Samson was in a close battle with Rishabh Pant in regards to making the cut as a wicket-keeper batter in the 15-member India squad for the Champions Trophy, which will be played from February 19 onwards in Pakistan and the UAE. But, in a press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Pant was selected ahead of Samson in the wicket-keeper’s role for the upcoming ICC tournament.
There is no excuse to leave him out: Gavaskar on Samson omitted from Champions Trophy squad
In his latest interview with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar differentiated between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, while feeling unhappy about the fate of the former. He was quoted as saying, “It’s very tough because the man (Sanju Samson) has been scoring hundreds and hundreds of runs. There is no excuse to leave him out. But he was pitted against Rishabh Pant, who we all know can be a game-changer. Plus Pant is a left-hander and he is probably the better wicket-keeper, although he might not be the better batter than Samson.”
Sunil Gavaskar divulged further into why Sanju Samson was omitted from the Champions Trophy squad in favour of Rishabh Pant. He said, “Pant can change the game perhaps a little more than Samson and that’s the reason why Samson missed out. But Samson must not feel dejected because all Indian cricket lovers will have sympathy for him for what he has achieved.”
Below is India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja
