Anil Kumble claimed that Sanju Samson played like a mix of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during the T20 World Cup 2026 after India won the title. Samson’s return to the Indian squad at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup resulted in a string of record-breaking performances that earned him widespread praise and the Player of the Tournament award. After spending the opening phase of the tournament on the bench, Samson made a decisive impact in the knockout stages with three consecutive fifties to become a key contributor in India’s title campaign.
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Samson’s run of form began with an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies in a Super 8 match in Kolkata. This innings was followed by scores of 89 in both the semi-final and final, making him only the second Indian after Virat Kohli to score fifties in both the semi-final and final of the same edition of the T20 World Cup. He also set a new record for the highest individual score in a T20 World Cup final.
In five innings, Samson amassed 321 runs, breaking Kohli’s record for most runs by an Indian in a single T20 World Cup. Kumble said that Samson played sensibly like Kohli at crucial stages and attacked bowlers like Rohit in the power over.
“If you look at the previous World Cup in 2024, they had Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. They’re both great players, they’re very hard to replace. I think Samson is a combination of Kohli and Rohit in a way. When it required a bit of Kohli where you just plan and make sure you don’t lose wickets. And then whenever you need to step up, Roitplayer, you want to step up, on powerlike on ESPNcricinfo.
HOW GOOD WAS SAMSON’S GAMEPLAN?
Faf du Plessis also praised Samson’s game plan during the tournament, saying he stuck to his mantra with every knock.
“You can see a guy who is in form and really true to the way he wants to play. It looks like I’m re-watching the previous innings. It’s just the game plan shown,” du Plessis noted.
Samson also hit 24 sixes, the most in the history of batting in the World Cup.
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Published on:
March 9, 2026 12:57 PM IST
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