Sanju Samson played an innings of a lifetime with an epic knock against the West Indies in India’s final Super 8 fixture of the T20 World Cup 2026, which ensured them a semi-final berth. The Kerala keeper-batter stayed unbeaten on 97 runs at the end of the run-chase, anchoring the innings in a perfect manner for the co-hosts. Following the contest, Samson credited some time off social media and doing some soul-searching for being able to bounce back, at the right place and at the right time.
How Sanju Samson rediscovered form?
Speaking to JioHotstar after the IND vs WI match, Samson admitted that things did not go well for him right from the series against New Zealand before the T20 WC to the three matches that he had featured in in the marquee event before the game against West Indies. The batter had registered knocks of 10, 6, 0, 24, 6, 22 and 24 before his fine 97-run knock against West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday. Samson said that he did some soul-searching which enabled him to rediscover his form and deliver on the biggest stage.
“Our human nature is that we often start from a negative thought like, ‘Can I do it? I don’t think I can.’ When I have that thought, I try to alter it with a very positive one. When I had a series like New Zealand where I wanted to perform and be part of the World Cup team, things did not work out well, but luckily I got a 10-day gap. I did not play any games and was not in the side. I kept thinking, ‘Sanju, what else? Why didn’t it work? What else should I do?’ So I did some soul-searching. I worked on my base, how I set myself up, and came back to it,” Sanju Samson said.
Sanju revealed that shot selection was something that he had been working on, adding that while many people had come up with multiple suggestions amid a slump in his form, he reminded himself that he was the only Indian cricketer to score three international hundreds in T20Is in a calendar year.
“A lot of people had suggestions and I saw a lot of valid points, but at the same time I felt, ‘Sanju, you have scored three international hundreds with the same setup.’ Shot selection was something I kept working on. I did not want to change too much because I knew I had performed with the same setup, so I kept believing in myself, switched off my phone, switched off social media and listened to my own self. I am very happy it happened in a very special game,” Samson added.
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