Sanju Samson vs Rishabh Pant: WHO has scored more runs and has better average in 2022 in ODIs, check NUMBERS here

Who should get a place in Indian playing 11 in ODI? Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant. We dig out numbers to see who should be an ideal pick

Rishabh Pant find himself under massive pressure after another failure with the bat in the third ODI vs New Zealand on Wednesday (November 30) at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He scored just 10 off 16 balls to produce another poor performance in white-ball cricket. Pant had not got great returns in the ODIs and T20Is played earlier. The series of low scores continue to haunt him even if he feels he has age on his side. Sanju Samson is his big competition in the side. He has done well in the ODIs this year. Samson had a good series vs South Africa at home. The numbers tell us that Samson may have scored lesser runs than Pant, but his impact has been greater. 

Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson: What numbers tell us? 

In 2022, so far, Sanju Samson has done fairly well in comparison to Rishabh Pant. Samson has featured in 9 ODIs for Team India in 2022, scoring 284 runs at average of 71 and strike rate of 105.57. He has two fifties to his name and has smashed 20 fours and 14 sixes respectively. In comparison, Pant has played in 10 matches, scoring 336 runs, averaging 37.33 and strike rate is 96.55. He has one hundred to his name and two fifties respectively while smashing 42 boundaries and 5 sixes respectively.

The stats above definitely underlines that the Indian team management, despite the good show by Samson, has continued to back Pant as they want to give him a longer rope in the white-ball cricket. It can't really be called bias. Some players get more backing than others and this is nothing new that is happening in Indian or world cricket. But dropping Samson from the Bangladesh ODIs has no logic whatsoever. He should remain in the mix because he has numbers to show.