IPL 2024 - Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant? Fans say RR captain to be 1st choice keeper for T20 World Cup

Match 56 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium saw the host side posting 221 runs on the board. While DC got off to a good start defending the total, taking three quick wickets, RR skipper Sanju Samson stayed glued to the crease and even reached his half-century.

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Despite DC winning the clash by 20 runs, many still took to social media to state they would prefer Sanju Samson as the first-choice wicketkeeper at the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. While batting, Pant scored 15 off 13, and Sanju Samson scored 86 off 46. Fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to suggest that Sanju Samson should 'likely' be the 1st choice wicketkeeper as he is in fine form with the bat.

As for the clash, RR scored 201 runs and lost 8 wickets in the 20 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal departed cheaply for 4 off 2, while Jos Buttler was bowled for 19 off 17. Riyan Parag tried to get things in motion but lost his wicket for 27 off 22. Samson walked back for 86, followed by Shubham Dubey, who scored 25 off 12. Donovan Ferreira did not do much as he was dismissed for 1 off 3, and R Ashwin followed in the same over for 2 off 3. Rovman Powell could not do much in the last over as he was bowled for 13 off 10. 

For DC, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav picked two wickets each, while Axar Patel and Rasikh Dar Salam each took one wicket.

Earlier, after an explosive start by Jake Fraser-McGurk, who smashed a 19-ball 50, his opening partner Abishek Porel went on to score 65 runs off 36 balls. RR gained momentum as Shai Hope was run out, and Axar Patel (15 off 10) and Rishabh Pant (15 off 13) departed in quick succession. 

However, Tristan Stubbs (41 off 20) along with IPL debutant Gulbadin Naib (19 off 15) got DC to cross the 200-run mark. Rasikh Dar Salam smashed 2 fours at the end but was run out on the final ball for 9 off 3, while Kuldeep Yadav remained not out for 5 off 2.

Teams:

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Gulbadin Naib, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Impact Subs: Rasikh Dar Salam, Praveen Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Sumit Kumar, Kumar Kushagra

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Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Subs: Jos Buttler, Kuldeep Sen, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tanush Kotian, Kunal Singh Rathore