Sanju Samson couldn’t have picked a bigger stage to silence the noise around him. In a virtual knockout against West Indies, the right-hander produced an innings of rare control and conviction, guiding India into the T20 World Cup semi-finals with an unbeaten 97 in a stiff chase of 196. For years, questions followed him about failing to convert starts. This time, there was no such lapse. Samson judged the tempo perfectly, kept the asking rate in check and refused to let the occasion overwhelm him. While three T20I centuries already feature on his record, this knock will likely be remembered longer than most. The context, the pressure and the responsibility on his shoulders made it far more significant than a routine three-figure score.
Samson was not in India’s original XI at the start of the T20 World Cup, with Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan preferred as the opening pair. But the big loss to South Africa forced a rethink, especially with a left-heavy top order struggling for balance. The team management shuffled the combination, drafting Samson into the side to partner Abhishek at the top, while Ishan moved down to No. 3 in a bid to steady the batting unit.
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Following his memorable innings against West Indies, a video of Samson interacting with former India captain Rohit Sharma has been widely shared online. The two crossed paths at the ground ahead of the USA fixture, where Rohit paused for a brief chat. In that short exchange, he offered Samson a quiet word of encouragement, urging him not to be disheartened and assuring him that his opportunity would come.
“Kaisa hai? Dukhi mat ho bhai. It is a long tournament, kabhi bhi mauka aa sakta hai. (“Don’t be disheartened. It is a long tournament. You’ll get your chance. The opportunity can come anytime),” said Rohit to Samson.
“Learning from the greats like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma”: Sanju Samson
After guiding India through a tense chase, Samson opened up about the influence senior players have had on his growth over the years. He spoke about spending long phases on the sidelines, watching and absorbing lessons from established names like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
“I think playing IPL around 10 to 12 years and playing for the country from last 10 years, I have not been playing, but looking from the dugout, learning from the greats like Virat Kohli, from Rohit Sharma, like all the greats. I think it’s very important to observe and learn and see what they were doing. I think that really helped me to, I think with my experience, I have only played maybe 50, 60 games, but I’ve seen around 100 games and I’ve seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game,” Samson said after the match.
