Kamal Ghorui
Head coach Gautam Gambhir showered rich praise on Sanju Samson following India’s successful campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, describing the wicketkeeper-batter’s performances as “special” and a true reflection of his character under immense pressure.Samson emerged as one of the biggest heroes of the tournament, producing three successive match-winning performances that ultimately earned him the Player of the Tournament award. His standout contribution came in the final against New Zealand national cricket team, where he struck a brilliant 89 to guide India to the title.
During the post-match interaction, Gambhir was asked whether 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 comparisons between players were unfair.“Look, it’s not fair to compare two people. I think Sanju, what he’s done… see, again, Sanju did that three in a row, three in a row doing it and especially after coming back from the kind of form that he was in. You know, it takes so much of character and courage where you know that maybe your career is on the line,” Gambhir said.The former India opener stressed that Samson’s journey in the tournament made his success even more remarkable. The Kerala batter had entered the World Cup under scrutiny after a poor series against New Zealand national cricket team and also spent the early part of the competition out of the playing XI.According to Gambhir, overcoming those challenges and delivering such impactful performances required extraordinary mental strength.“Even if the captain and I can show as much faith, trust, everything in him, deep inside you know that obviously you didn’t have a great series against New Zealand before the start of the World Cup, and then you didn’t start on the playing level during the World Cup. Then making a comeback like that and playing those kinds of innings with that kind of, what, strike rate or with that kind of flamboyance… You need to have a special player, you need to be a special talent,” he noted.Gambhir added that the team management never doubted Samson’s ability and only 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 is what he has shown to everyone. When you start believing in yourself, I think nothing matters to you apart from that,” he said.Samson’s fearless batting proved decisive as India scripted history by becoming the first team to successfully defend the Men’s T20 World Cup title.Looking ahead, Gambhir believes the tournament could mark the start of an even greater chapter in Samson’s career.“Hopefully he can kick off from here and achieve a lot of great things. I think he deserves a lot more than actually he’s got till now. There was never any doubt about his talent, and this is just the beginning of a remarkable journey.”
