T20 World Cup 2026, Sanju Samson: t20 world cup 2026 On March 1, only one name was echoing from Eden Gardens all over India and that is Sanju Samson. The player who was constantly being kept out of the playing eleven created such a sensation with the bat that now everyone has become a fan of Sanju Samson.

In the do or die match played with West Indies, Sanju played the biggest role in taking Team India to the semi-finals by playing an unbeaten inning of 97 runs in just 50 balls. After reaching the semi-finals, Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was also seen reading Sanju’s ballads. After the match, Gambhir told why he was being kept out of the playing eleven?

What did Gambhir say about Sanju?

After Team India’s victory over West Indies, Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir said about Sanju Samson, “Sanju Samson has scored 3 centuries in T20 International. We always knew what his talent was. His bat was not working in the series against New Zealand, so it was very important for him to take a break but we knew whenever we needed him, he would come and deliver. Sanju is a world class player and he has stood up for the team in such times. When the team needed it most.” It is clear from Gambhir’s statement that the team management had full confidence in Samson’s ability.

Why was Sanju out of the team?

Before the World Cup, Team India played a 5-match T20 series with New Zealand, in this series Sanju Samson was a part of Team India, but due to his poor performance with the bat, he disappointed a lot. After this Sanju was kept out of the initial matches of World Cup 2026.

After this, Abhishek Sharma’s health deteriorated and Sanju got a chance in the playing eleven. Before the World Cup, Sanju had scored only 46 runs in 5 matches in the New Zealand series. But now he has scored 143 runs in just 3 matches. Which is a good sign for Team India before the semi-finals.