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Samson won the Player Of The Tournament award within the T20 World Cup 2026. He played five matches and scored 321 runs with a strike rate of 199.37.
Sanju Samson gives special mention to Sachin Tendulkar after winning Player Of The Tournament award in T20 World Cup 2026. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Sanju Samson played five matches for India within the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and scored 321 runs with a strike rate of 199.37. He topped the list of batters with essentially the most runs for India within the 2026 edition of the boys’s shortest format mega-event and registered scores of 97*, 89 and 89 within the three do-or-die matches against West Indies, England and Latest Zealand, respectively.
For his super show with the bat within the T20 World Cup 2026, the 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batter from Kerala bagged the Player Of The Tournament award.
After defeating the likes of Sahibzada Farhan, Will Jacks, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi and Shadley van Schalkwyk for the very best player of the tournament award, Samson opened up about his campaign and stated that it was like a dream for him.
“Seems like a dream, actually. Very, very comfortable, very grateful. Out of words, out of emotions. I’m just going through it, so it feels a bit surreal. To be very honest, I believe it began one to 2 years before. Once I was with the 2024 World Cup-winning team within the West Indies, I couldn’t play a game. I kept on visualising. I kept on dreaming. I kept on working. This is precisely what I desired to do then. I assumed I needed to work in; I needed to place in a lot work that this is precisely what I wanted to attain. And by God’s grace, I believe today things have turned around,” he said in the course of the post-match presentation.
In line with Samson, he was heartbroken after he was dropped from India’s playing XI following poor performances within the five-match T20I series against Latest Zealand in January 2026, but God had other plans for him.
“I believe right after the Latest Zealand series, I used to be broke. I used to be completely out of my mind. I used to be like, okay, my dreams have shattered. Okay, what else can I do? But God had different plans. I believe I suddenly got here back into the crucial games, and I did what I could for my country. So, I believe I’m very proud and really comfortable that I used to be courageous enough to dream about it. And really, things have turned up so nicely for me. So, very grateful.”
He also opened up about his conversations with the senior players in the course of the course of the tournament and gave a special mention to Sachin Tendulkar. In line with Samson, he was in constant touch with Tendulkar, and his advice helped him to enhance the mindset.
“To be very honest, a variety of guidance and suggestions from our senior players in the previous Indian team have really reached out to me and so they tried to assist me out. But I believe from the last couple of months, I believe I hope I can share it here. I believe I even have been in constant touch with Sachin sir.”
“I believe Sachin Tendulkar sir. I believe after I was outside, sitting outside in Australia, I used to be not playing a game. So, I considered, ‘Okay, what’s the mindset required now?’ So, I reached out to Sir, and I had huge, huge big conversations with him. And right yesterday (on Saturday) also, he called me up to examine how I used to be feeling. So, I believe getting guidance from someone like him, what more can I ask for? I believe that clarity, that game preparation, that game awareness, and that game sense – I believe I’m very grateful for everybody who supported me.”
March 09, 2026, 00:02 IST
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