India’s Sanju Samson (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Head coach Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on Sanju Samson following India’s successful campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, describing the batsman’s performances as “special” and a true reflection of his character under immense pressure.Samson proved to be one of the biggest heroes of the tournament and produced three consecutive match-winning performances that eventually earned him the Player of the Tournament award. His standout contribution came in the final against the New Zealand national cricket team where he scored a brilliant 89 to lead India to the title.
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During the post-match interaction, Gambhir was asked if Samson’s all-round impact reminded him of Yuvraj Singh’s legendary run in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. However, the India head coach was quick to distance the two achievements, insisting that the comparison between the players was unfair.“Look, it’s not fair to compare two people. I think Sanju, what he did… you see, again, Sanju did it three in a row, three in a row and especially after coming back from the kind of form he was in. You know, it takes so much character and courage when you know that maybe your career is on the line,” Gambhir said.The former Indian opener emphasized that Samson’s journey in the tournament made his achievement all the more remarkable. The Kerala batsman entered the World Cup under scrutiny after a poor series against the New Zealand national cricket team and also spent the early part of the competition out of the playing eleven.According to Gambhir, it took extraordinary mental strength to overcome these challenges and deliver such impressive performances.“Even though the captain and I can show so much faith, trust, everything in him, deep down you know that obviously you didn’t have a great series against New Zealand before the World Cup started and then you didn’t start playing at World Cup level. Then you come back and play that kind of innings with that kind of what, strike rate or that kind of talent, you don’t need a special player, you don’t need to have a special flamboyance.”Gambhir added that the team management never doubted Samson’s ability and wanted him to play with freedom when the opportunity came.“It was never about doubting his talent. He just had to go out there and be as free as he wanted to be. That’s what he showed everybody. When you start believing in yourself, I don’t think anything else matters to you,” he said.Samson’s fearless batting proved decisive as India made history as they became the first team to successfully defend the Men’s T20 World Cup title.Looking ahead, Gambhir believes the tournament could mark the beginning of an even bigger chapter in Samson’s career.“Hopefully he can go on and achieve a lot of great things from here. I think he deserves a lot more than he actually has so far. His talent has never been in doubt and this is just the beginning of a remarkable journey.”
