From spending time on the bench to scoring three match-defining knocks in the T20 World Cup 2026, Sanju Samson’s coming of age story became the highlight of the tournament. While Samson won the ‘Player of the tournament’, he missed three chances of getting to his maiden T20 World Cup hundred. After India’s title win in Ahmedabad, head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that he wanted an environment in the dressing room where team’s win is valued over personal milestones. During the T20 World Cup, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had urged Samson to score at least one hundred. His reply to Kotak will make Gambhir proud.
“I told Sanju, ‘ Ek toh hundred karna hai’ (you have to score one hundred). He replied with a smile: ‘On one hand you say it’s not about personal milestones, and on another you say score a hundred. How are two things possible?’
“Obviously, he was joking, but it spoke volumes about the mindset of the team. Players never thought about their personal runs and always put the team first. That made the difference,” Kotak recalled in a conversation with Sportstar.
When Samson told Kotak – ‘aap chinta mat karo’
Kotak also talked about how Suryakumar Yadav and Gambhir kept the players in the dressing room positive, even those who were not part of the playing eleven. He recalled another conversation with Samson when the wicketkeeper-batter told him not to worry as he is prepared to the job for the team whenever called upon.
“It was a unique situation. While the best eleven were playing, our plan allowed the others to remain confident,” Kotak said.
“For instance, when Sanju was not playing, he was still confident. I spoke to him that every other day things change, there could be injuries or poor form, and that he had to be prepared. And he used to say, ‘Kotak bhai, aap chinta mat karo, main always prepared hoon, jab aap kahoge main kar dunga (Don’t worry, I am always prepared. Whenever you tell me to go and perform, I will do it).’
“So all that actually came true. That was great.”
Samson’s extraordinary numbers and Sachin Tendulkar impact
Samson went on to scored 321 runs from just five innings, averaging 80.25. His scoring rate of 199.37 was impressive as well. Also, he hit 24 sixes, most by any batter in the recently-concluded tournament.
In addition to India batting coach Kotak, Samson also credited legendary Sachin Tendulkar for helping him get through a rough patch as he struggled to score in T20I series against New Zealand.