In a move that has caused quite a commotion among cricket fans, the BCCI announced on Saturday (January 18) that Rishabh Pant has been picked in the Indian side for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The declaration was made during a press conference conducted by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Indian captain Rohit Sharma, where the side for the tournament was released. The move to favor Pant, who has faced criticism for inconsistent performances in recent matches, is a source of frustration from the fans as evident on social media. Several users have been pouring out their dissatisfaction on X and Instagram by raising questions on why Pant is favored over Sanju Samson when the he is in form with white-ball cricket. Sanju Samson Fan's Reactions: No Sanju Samson in Champions Trophy.You should feel bad for Sanju. They selected Pant on the basis of favouritism. 💔 pic.twitter.com/RK5zW144ry — Kunal Yadav (@Kunal_KLR) January 18, 2025 Gautam Gambhir forget Sanju Samson since he tweeted about him. Sanju Samson is 10 times better white ball WK batsman than Rishabh Pant. Unfortunately Sanju has no PR team like Rishabh Pant. #SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/Da5bFPVwEK — Satya Prakash (@_SatyaPrakash08) January 18, 2025 Despite Sanju Samson averaging almost 57 scored match winning 💯 in his last ODI, 3 100s in his last 5 T20i dropped from the CT whereas Pant has been consistently failing, just another prime example of how good PR can save you without performance.Shame on @ImRo45@imAagarkar pic.twitter.com/FHlQjFxdSo — Rosh🧢 (@samson_zype) January 18, 2025 Sanju Samson doesn’t have a strong PR and Mumbai Lobby support like Rishabh Pant who is playing in this ODI Team without any performance .Sanju Samson deserves better 🙂💔 — Kohlify_18 (@18_kohlify) January 18, 2025 Also Read | Champions Trophy 2025: BCCI announces squad, sees Kuldeep and Iyer back in squad Samson has played 16 ODIs, scoring 510 runs at an average of 56.67 and a strike rate of 99.61. He has three half-centuries and one century. Pant, on the other hand, has played 31 ODIs, scoring 871 runs at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of 106.22. He has five half-centuries and one century. India will play their first match of the ICC Champions Trophy against Bangladesh on February 20 and will then face a much-anticipated match against Pakistan on February 23. With all this attention, Pant is going to have a lot to prove. India's Squad for Champions Trophy 2025 Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja.