With India set to square off against the West Indies in the first ODI at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, there are several opportunities up for grabs for some of the fringe players to impress ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup and stake a claim for a position in the playing XI before the period of audition for the marquee tournament draws to a close.
India are without the services of their preferred wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul who is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru after a successful surgery to his right thigh. His absence has presented a valuable opportunity to both Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson who have been auditioning for the wicketkeeper-batter's role in the ODI set-up for quite some time now.
Both players have done fairly well in the limited opportunity that they have received thus far in the One-Day circuit. While Ishan has aggregated 510 runs in 14 games at an average of 42.50, including an impressive double hundred and three half-centuries, Samson hasn't done any harm to his reputation either. The 28-year-old right-handed batter has racked up 330 runs at a wonderful average of 66.00 in 11 games with the help of two half-centuries.
With the team management choosing to stick to both Rishabh Pant and Rahul as go-to wicketkeeping options in the ODI circuit, opportunities have been hard to come by for both Ishan and Sanju, and not without an added pressure for them to prove their worth. As both Ishan and Samson have been included in the set-up for the Windies series, it will be interesting to see who will get the nod ahead and don the wicketkeeping gloves.
Speaking on the same, former India opener Wasim Jaffer shared his thoughts on the debate and mentioned that Samson be preferred over Ishan as the top order is fairly stacked up, and Ishan usually bats in the top order contrary to Samson who can bat both in the middle order and the lower order.
"It could be both of them (Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan). That's the test they are going to face up until the World Cup team is going to get selected. For Sanju Samson, I feel he might get the opportunity first in this series, and it's huge games leading up to the World Cup for him. Because Ishan Kishan bats top of the order, they have got Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill there so Ishan Kishan might not get the opportunity as of now. Whoever gets the opportunity and whoever grabs that opportunity, I feel they will be picked up," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
