Samson scored 24 off 15 balls against Zimbabwe at Chepauk.
Sanju Samson produced a fiery knock of 15-ball 24 for India in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 fixture against Zimbabwe at Chepauk on Thursday (February 26).
This was Samson's second match in the showpiece tournament. His innings, studded with two sixes and one four, took the pressure off fellow opener Abhishek Sharma.
However, the wicketkeeper-batter was dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani in the fourth over. He didn’t get the desired connection while attempting the pull shot as was caught at deep mid-wicket by Ryan Burl.
"He'll be disappointed with that," former India coach Ravi Shastri said on-air.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, who was sharing the commentary box with Shastri, offered a more detailed assessment.
"He will be disappointed because he has got out so many times in that region. Everybody knows-bowl short, have a deep square leg. And again, it is the height of Muzarabani that allowed the ball to bounce a little bit more. That's why it wasn't quite off the middle of the bat. And so he got off to a very good start, 24 off 15. But he's holed out in the deep once again. And India have lost their first wicket at 48," Gavaskar remarked.
Taking to X, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan stated that Sanju Samson played an innings for the team.
“India’s first-wicket average this World Cup was just around 7. lowest among all teams. Today, Sanju Samson played exactly the way the team needed and helped put up India’s highest opening partnership of this World Cup. He did the job,” Pathan wrote.
Coming to the match, the defending champions racked up a mammoth 256/4 on the board in the do-or-die clash against Zimbabwe.
Abhishek Sharma (55 off 30), Hardik Pandya (50* off 23) slammed half-centuries for India, while Tilak Varma (44* off 16), Ishan Kishan (38 off 24) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 13) made significant contributions with the bat.