India’s Sanju Samson with his teammates greets the fans during the victory lap after winning the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8, 2026. (AFP) NEW DELHI: Arshdeep Singh has been a ‘character’ on social media ever since India won the T20 World Cup in 2026. With his pranks and pranks, he spared no one’s left hand, not head coach Gautam Gambhir, not seniors like Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel and not even Sanju Samson, who came on for three big nights in this World Cup.
Ahmedabad erupts as Team India arrives at the hotel after winning the T20 World Cup
On one of his many Instagram reels, with a beaming Sanju by his side, the pacer quips, “O father, justice has been done..” Arshdeep said with a laugh, referring to the social media trend of #JusticeForSanju whenever the opener was on the T20 World Cup bench or in the build-up to the tournament.ID@undefined Subtitle not available.This has been Sanju Samson’s story over the last 18 months. Under Gambhir’s regime, the Kerala cricketer either batted like a millionaire or looked broke. He lost his place, lost confidence but was supported by the team management and proved to be one of the many standout aspects in India’s T20 World Cup triumph.
Vote
Should Sanju Samson have been included in the playing XI earlier in the tournament?
First, they are trophy milestones: second in a row, third overall, back-to-back, first hosts. Look deeper and there is excellent bowling, although the batting has been the much-heralded aspect of the contest. And with the bat looking out of sorts, a few changes later things took a sharp upward turn. India produced three totals above 250 in the last four matches. A total of 106 sixes were hit in the entire competition, the first time a team had broken the century mark.But there is one more factor that stands out. He stands behind this success of the Indian team. And it’s the support from the selectors, coaching staff and group leaders to multiple players, but probably none more so than Sanju Samson. At the other end is also the perseverance shown by him.
Sanju Samson of India celebrates reaching his half-century during the India-Sri Lanka 2026 Men’s World T20 match between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8, 2026 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
For teams of the past, beating South Africa by 76 runs would have led to knee-jerk reactions. Instead, she was met with some smart strategic changes. Samson started in the clash with Zimbabwe that followed. After a 15-ball 24 in the opening slot alongside Abhishek Sharma, the template was set.“Watching your roles, understanding your responsibilities, getting involved at the right time, talking to each player when someone is not doing well. That is more important for me. When someone is not doing well, you try to spend time with them, take them to dinner, talk to them, because those are the players who will do something special for you at the right time, like what Abhishek has done in the last three games in the last three games in the Sankumar post,” Abhishek said in the last three games behind Yachdav. conference.
Many former players reached out to me and tried to help me. Over the past few months, I hope I can share here, I have been in constant touch with Sachin sir.
Sanju Samson
Team India coach Gautam Gambhir acknowledged that it was always going to be tough for the 31-year-old, especially when his career is on the line.“It takes so much character and guts when you know that maybe your career is on the line. Even though the captain and I can show him so much faith and trust, deep down you know that you didn’t have a great series against New Zealand before the World Cup started. And then you didn’t make the playing XI during the World Cup and you lost your place to Ishan Kishan,” said coach Gambhir.
Sanju Samson of India walks off the field after losing his wicket during the ICC T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026 final between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8, 2026 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
The form was not the best. In the New Zealand series, Samson scored only 46 runs at a paltry average of 9.20, with a top score of 24. Against Namibia in the T20 World Cup, despite India posting a score of 209/9, he contributed just 22 runs from eight balls.This could be for Sanju and his Indian ambitions, but with the top order of the team being exposed again and again, it was necessary to shuffle the order and approach. This, coupled with the South African side’s batting, played into the hands of the Trivandrum-born cricketer.Samson pushed this chance and the support was justified. 50-ball 97 against West Indies. 42-ball 89 against England. 46-ball 89 against New Zealand in the final. A total of 275 runs from 138 balls at a strike rate of nearly 200, including 25 fours and 19 sixes.
This whole process started a year or two earlier when I was with the team that won the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies. I couldn’t get the game, but I kept dreaming, I kept visualizing and working. This is exactly what I wanted to do at the time.
Sanju Samson
Let’s summarize the magnitude of these three innings. 89 against New Zealand is the highest score in a T20 World Cup final. His fifty-plus points in the semifinals and finals put him on the four-man list. His tally of 321 runs made him India’s highest run scorer in a single edition of the T20 World Cup and the third highest overall. He ended up smashing 24 sixes, the most by a player in a single tournament, nearly a quarter of India’s total.But before all that, he was sitting in the dugout. The camera zeroed in on him after every fight of the Indian top order. Question marks were repeatedly raised, but the noise grew louder after the defeat to the Proteas. At the time, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that bringing in Sanju would be a “talking point”.Sanju, meanwhile, felt his “dreams were shattered” after the New Zealand series. But the “tremendous” talks with Sachin Tendulkar kept the faith going and ensured he remained optimistic and hoped that luck would shine on him.
Sanju Samson of India plays a shot during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026 Final between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 08, 2026 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo by Prakash Singh/Getty Images)
“A lot of former players have approached me and tried to help me. Over the last couple of months, I hope I can share it here, I’m in constant touch with Sachin sir. When I was sitting out in Australia during the T20I in October and I didn’t play a game, I was thinking about what kind of mindset is required.”“I reached out to the man and had long conversations with him. He even called me last night to check on how I was feeling. Having the guidance from someone like him, the clarity, the game preparation, the awareness and the sense of the game, I’m grateful for everyone who supported me.”The lowest point, Sanju admitted, came after the New Zealand series. He felt “broken” and “out of my mind” and his dreams were “broken”. It reminded him where this desire was born.“This whole process started one or two years earlier when I was with the team that won the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies,” he said. “I couldn’t get a game but I kept dreaming, I kept imagining, I kept working. This is exactly what I wanted to do then,” said Samson when he was part of the Rohit Sharma-led team.
Vote
How do you feel about Sanju Samson’s performance in the T20 World Cup?
“I thought I had to put in so much work because that’s exactly what I wanted to achieve. By God’s grace, things turned around today,” he continued.The ‘Justice for Sanju’ social media campaign to bring a Keralite into the team might have seemed over the top. Sometimes it could even look menacing. But now that the script is written, maybe it was God’s plan after all.
