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3 min readUpdated: Mar 14, 2026 10:22 PM IST
India's Sanju Samson plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket final match between India and New Zealand in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The T20 World Cup’s player of the tournament Sanju Samson wasn’t even in the scheme of things when the tournament began but as the event progressed, a combination of India’s stuttering start, tweak in combination and luck played an important part in the opener’s return to the Playing XI. In a recent interaction, Sanju revealed that when he wasn’t getting into the team in the initial stages, it left him broken.
“I was too desperate knowing that my dream is so near. But was the team still trying some combinations? So, is Sanju there or not there? So, that kind of feeling played in my mind at that time. I was absolutely broken because my dream was to win the World Cup and I am not even in the XI. So, actually I was gone away for 5-6 days and I started rebuilding myself. Started preparing myself knowing you never know what the game want to give back to you,” he said during the India Today Conclave on Saturday.
“I am the type of a person who do much better for others than doing things better for myself. In that series (against NZ), I was competing with my own people (for a place in the team) and I was not very comfortable with it,” the Kerala batter added.
But after he got his chance against Zimbabwe in the Super 8s, there was no looking back for the batter with Sanju slamming 97 vs the West Indies in a virtual quarter final at Eden Gardens and then following up with identical scores of 89 in the semifinal against England at Wankhede and in the final against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“I knew the team management had trust in me. When the World Cup came in I kind of figured out now that the team wants you, so that is the mindset change which happened in my head. So, right from the Zimbabwe game, we had to win four out of four matches and the team needs you. So, that’s when it became very positive for me, and I was very fired up,” Sanju said.
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