When the captain must make difficult decisions, such as selecting Rishabh Pant over Sanju Samson, Shikhar Dhawan said it’s “not difficult” to be in the captain’s position.

Rishabh Pant is a proven “match-winner,” according to India’s acting captain Shikhar Dhawan, and as such, he deserves the full support of the team management while he goes through a trying time. Sanju Samson was similarly told by Dhawan to wait for his opportunities. The left-handed Pant, who is known for his flamboyance, once again failed after misplaying a rising delivery to get out for a 16-ball 10 as India collapsed for 219 against New Zealand in the third and final ODI on Wednesday.

“Overall you have to see the larger picture and who is your match winner. You analyse and your decisions are based on that,” Dhawan said at the post-match interaction. 10, 15, 11, 6, 6, 3, 9, 9 and 27 were the scores in Pant’s last nine innings over the two white-ball forms. Samson, on the other hand, impressed in the recent home ODIs against South Africa and shined in the few opportunities he had. The Kerala stumper was dismissed in the first ODI in Auckland after scoring 36 runs.

Making difficult decisions, like choosing Pant over Samson, is “not difficult,” according to Dhawan. “Of course, Sanju Samson has been doing really well in whatever opportunity he got. But sometimes you got to wait for your chances, because the other player has done well and we know based on his (Pant’s) skill that he’s a match-winner. So, you need to back him when he’s not doing well.”