Sanju Samson's redemption arc continued with a fiery 89 off 42 balls, powering India to a 7-run win over England in the T20 World Cup semifinal. The opener spoke on battling self-doubt after being dropped earlier from the team.
Following his India's win over England in the T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday night, opener Sanju Samson, who yet again impressed with a fine 89 in 42 balls, after an unbeaten 97* against West Indies at Kolkata, spoke on battling self-doubt due being demoted in batting order, losing his form and eventally getting dropped. He also added that after winning the title, he will "feel light".
Samson's redemption continued as his fiery 89 in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes, took India to 253/7, which England could not chase down despite a valiant century from Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls), falling short by seven runs.
The Road to Redemption
These two knocks come after a tough time, being demoted down the order in favour of vice-captain Shubman Gill during the Asia Cup and eventually finding himself on the sidelines for the most part. While he was restored as an opener following Gill's omission from the T20WC squad, a horror series against New Zealand at home, in which he managed just 46 runs across five innings, caused him to lose his spot as a first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, with Ishan Kishan making full use of opportunities given to him following his return to the side after spearheading his side Jharkhand's maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) trophy win as a batter and captain. After starts against Namibia (which he played due to Abhishek's illiness) and Zimbabwe, with quickfire scores of 22 and 24, questioned were raised that when Kerala batting star would convert his starts into something big and the batter has responded with two all-timer knocks when it mattered the most, marking a career-defining phase, peaking over his three T20I centuries in five innings back in 2024 after promotion as an opener.
'Everything was worth it'
Speaking during the post-match presser, Samson said that "everything was worth it" after so much "patience, inner work, training and practice".
"It feels really great or really relieved that I have been actually trying for a few years to do something like this for my country. So just waiting with a lot of patience, a lot of inner work, a lot of training, a lot of practice. I think, yeah, so definitely I should be very grateful, but I kind of feel that we have one more step to go. If we do that, then I think all the work, everything was worth it. So I feel that one more innings should be really good. And yes, I think the last innings definitely played a good role in this innings as well. So I know that I was timing the ball really well, I was taking good decisions. I thought that if you are in form, you should definitely contribute to your team in this game as well. So that is how I prepared for today, and things came on very nicely today," he said.
On Handling Demotion and Form Loss
On being demoted down the batting order after the arrival of Gill last year during the Asia Cup, getting fewer chances and being dropped from the squad after failing to do well as an opener during the New Zealand series, Samson said that the time was a challenging one for him and he noted that he "tried too much" during the NZ series. So to get his form back, he had to respect the game, work on his basics, and it all paid off. Time away from social media, "shutting down his phone" also did wonders for Samson mentally, keeping him away from outside noise.
"I wanted to make an impact and get into the 11 of the World Cup here. But I think you know this format, I think this cricket can get very funny. Even the best in the world actually struggle to score runs in this format. So I think I had to respect the game. I had to come back to my basics, work a bit more from my basics. I think a lot of work did go really well. I think when hard times were coming, I think my close people, the people whom I love, whom I support, they were with me and I closed all my windows, I shut down my phone, I was not in social media, I am still not in social media, so less noise, less people interacting with me, so I think that really helped me to focus on the right direction and I am very happy how I am going," he added.
On T20 Batting Strategy and Team Needs
Samson said that he wanted to make use of his experience as a T20 batter with 300-400 games to his name and wanted to help the team in different situations, when wickets fell during the chase of 196 at Kolkata during a virtual quarterfinal and when Men in Blue had to score as much as possible on a batting-friendly Wankhede surface. He also said that missing out on two centuries was not a big deal; his scores were, and he is grateful for the performances he is putting in.
"If I am feeling good, I try to give a great start for my team. Nowadays, you know that in powerplay only the match is made and spoiled. So as soon as you get 3-4 balls, you try to attack. Like Abhishek is doing, Ishan is doing, and I am doing. So the top 3 is all about going and exploding in the power play. So sometimes you actually end up on the negative side of the result. Sometimes you do this, actually. You cannot but change your character or change the game plan. Because we are batting till number eight. Or batting very deep. So we need to play as per the needs of the team. If you are having a good day, play till the end or else support the others," he said.
"One more match, then I will feel very light," he signed off.
Match Summary: India vs England
Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs.
Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bethell continued to march on even after Jacks' dismissal and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, ending at 246/7. (ANI)
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