Sanju Samson made 321 runs in 5 T20 World Cup games with a strike rate of 199.37.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir lavished rich praise on Sanju Samson after his brilliant Player of the Tournament performance in India’s successful T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. India defeated New Zealand in the final in Ahmedabad on March 8 by 96 runs to become champions.
Samson, who was benched during the earlier part of the tournament, got to play five games and hammered three half-centuries in must-win matches. He made 97* against the West Indies to help India qualify for the semis. Then his 89 helped lay the foundation for India’s huge score of 253/7 against England in the semis.
Then in the final, Samson again scored 89 runs and, along with fifties by Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, took India to a match-winning 255/5 in 20 overs. New Zealand replied with 159 runs in the chase, and India won the match by 96 runs.
During the post-match presser, Gambhir was asked if Samson's all-round performance reminded him of Yuvraj Singh's epic run in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. However, India's head coach was quick to separate himself from the two successes, claiming that player comparisons were unfair.
“Look, it's not fair to compare two people. I think Sanju, what he's done… see, again, Sanju did that three in a row, three in a row doing it, especially after coming back from the kind of form that he was in. You know, it takes so much character and courage when you know that maybe your career is on the line,” Gambhir said in the post-match presser.
The Indian head coach further stressed that Samson’s journey in the tournament made his success even more remarkable. According to Gambhir, overcoming those obstacles and delivering such powerful performances requires great mental fortitude.
“Even if the captain and I can show as much faith and trust in everything about him, deep inside, you know that obviously you didn't have a great series against New Zealand before the start of the World Cup, and then you didn't start on the playing level during the World Cup. Then making a comeback like that and playing those kinds of innings with that kind of, what, strike rate or with that kind of flamboyance… You need to have a special player; you need to be a special talent,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir added that the team management never doubted Samson’s ability and only wanted him to play with freedom when the opportunity came. Sanju Samson made 321 runs in 5 games with a strike rate of 199.37 in the T20 World Cup 2026.
“It was never about doubting his talent. He just had to go out there and be as free as he wanted to be. That is what he has shown to everyone. When you start believing in yourself, I think nothing matters to you apart from that,” Gambhir added.
In the future, Gambhir thinks the competition might be the beginning of an even more significant phase in Samson's career
“Hopefully, he can kick off from here and achieve a lot of great things. I think he deserves a lot more than what he's actually got till now. There was never any doubt about his talent, and this is just the beginning of a remarkable journey,” Gambhir said.
Sanju Samson will be in action next when he turns out for his new franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), in the IPL 2026 from March 28.
(ANI inputs)