Learning from the greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma helped me: Sanju Samson

Indian keeper-batter Sanju Samson, who propelled the Indian team to the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 with an unbeaten 97-run knock at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, has stated that he kept on doubting himself after being benched for a long time in his career.

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Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony after his match-winning knock against the West Indies on Sunday, March 1, Samson admitted that he kept on believing in himself and called the day he had been waiting for.

“It means the whole world actually, to me. I think right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, I think this is the day I was waiting for. And very grateful, very thankful. And I’ve always had a very special journey with lots of ups and downs, but I’ve kept on doubting myself, kept on thinking, what if, can I make it? But I kept on believing and thanks to the Lord Almighty for actually blessing me today. So I’m very happy,” Samson said at the post-match presentation ceremony. 

Furthermore, Samson credited Indian greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for helping him to how to play the innings according to the situation. Notably, Samson’s unbeaten knock had proper cricketing shots, but no forced shots.

“I think playing IPL around 10 to 12 years and playing for the country from last 10 years, I have not been playing, but looking from the dugout, learning from the greats like Virat Kohli, from Rohit Sharma, like all the greats. I think it’s very important to observe and learn and see what they were doing. I think that really helped me to, I think with my experience, I have only played maybe 50, 60 games, but I’ve seen around 100 games and I’ve seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game,” he added.

“So I think last game we were batting first, so it was all about setting a very high score. So that’s how I wanted to go big right from ball one. But this game was completely different. I think as soon as I wanted to go a bit higher, we were losing wickets. So I think I wanted to build a partnership, wanted to keep on focusing on my process. And I never felt that I will do something special like this, but I was just focusing on my role and just keeping one ball at a time and very grateful. I think this is one of the greatest days of my life,” he concluded.

Team India will next take on England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5 in the second semi-final.

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