India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson played a crucial role for the team as the Suryakumar Yadav-led side clinched the T20 World Cup 2026 title, defeating New Zealand in the final. The Kerala-born batter scored 321 runs in five matches and clinched the Player of the Tournament award.
Samson's T20 World Cup 2026 performance
Samson who was not the first choice opener during India's group stage matches came into the playing XI and played some remarkable innings, including an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls against the West Indies in the Super 8s, 89 off 42 balls against England in the semi-final, and 89 off 46 balls against New Zealand in the final. In all three crucial games, Samson came close to scoring a century, which would have made him only the second Indian, after Suresh Raina to reach three figures in a T20 World Cup match.
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Samson on missing T20 World Cup centuries
While many cricket experts and former players were disappointed that Samson missed out on three hundreds, the batter himself isn’t dwelling on it.
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Samson said he is happy with the way he contributed to the team. He admitted that thoughts of a hundred crossed his mind but he focused on the plan that was helping him score runs.
“Thinking about my three hundreds, which people say I missed out on, so I think ‘nahi yaar, usse bahut bada kaam hua hai.’ Like, I absolutely contributed really well; I kind of feel that. Definitely mai aise nahi bolunga ki maine 100 ke baare mein socha hi nahi. As a human being, aa he jaata hai ki nahi, yaar, ek 100 lag jaye, maja aajaayega. So you definitely thought about it, but those thoughts came in, and then I told myself, ‘Yaar, tere run abhi tak bane kaise hai?’ You didn’t think about 100 when you started to play. So I respected the process which was giving me runs, and I just stuck to the plan,” Samson said in India Today Conclave.
“No matter 80-90 kuch bhi ho, you just have to be in the process, and the process was team first. So every decision was taken ki bhai, abhi team ko kya chahiye” added Samson.
No Personal Milestones
After India’s win in the T20 World Cup 2026 final on March 8, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasised that personal milestones take a backseat in the Indian team. Samson echoed this philosophy.
“He (Gambhir) is very true to that; I think Abhi (Abhishek Sharma) would agree with me. Like, these are the constant conversation points which we have written down in the team meetings. Right from the Sri Lanka series, where Surya and Gautam Bhai were the leaders of the Indian team. Right from that moment it was very clear – there is no personal milestone. So that’s how we all adapted, and that’s how our character also got aligned to the team’s actual starting point.”
Sanju Samson's upcoming outing
Samson will now be seen featuring for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which will start from March 28. CSK will start their campaign against Rajasthan Royals on March 30.