‘The reason why he missed out…’:Sunil Gavaskar reveals Reason behind picking Rishabh Pant over Sanju Samson for Champions Trophy 2025

Rishabh Pant was picked over Sanju Samson in India’s squad for Champions trophy 2025, where Sunil Gavaskar stated that Pant’s wicket-keeping skills and changing the game while batting might be the reason he got picked over Samson.

Sanju Samson got excluded from India’s Champions Trophy squad, which came as a surprise for a lot of fans and experts. Sanju Samson had showed great performances in his recent outings, which had caused speculations about his selection in the Champions Trophy squad, which was was announced on January 18.

During an interaction, Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar explained the reason behind Rishabh Pant being picked over Sanju Samson for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.

Samson made his international debut in 2015, and has not been a regular player in India’s set-up. Even though his skills, he has been in-and-out of the squad, and the reason is his inconsistent form. However, Samson has recently prove his batting power as he has scored two centuries in T20I series against South Africa, followed by another one against Bangladesh.

Gavaskar has stated that Samson has not bee treated fairly as he got excluded from Champions Trophy, going to be held in Dubai and Pakistan. However, he explained that Pant being selected was likely because of his wicket-keeping skills and ability to change the game with the bat.

“Very tough because the man 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 wicketkeeper, although he might not be the better batter than Samson,” Gavaskar said.

“Pant can change the game perhaps a little more than Samson and that’s 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,” he further added.

India’s squad for 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, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

India’s squad for ODI series against England:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.