Sanju Samson is a combination of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma: Anil Kumble

Former Indian spinner Anil Kumble has heaped praise on the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson, who played a match-winning knock in the grand finale against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 8.

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Speaking exclusively to ESPNcricinfo, Kumble stated that the Kerala keeper-batter looked like a mix of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the duo’s absence in the just-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, adding that Samson anchored the innings and accelerated whenever required. 

"If you look at the previous World Cup in 2024, it had Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both are great players, very difficult to replace them. I think Samson is a combination of Kohli and Rohit, in a sense. When it required a little bit of Kohli, where you just plan and ensure that you don't lose wickets. And then whenever you need to accelerate, in the powerplay, you want to take on the bowlers [like Rohit],” Kumble told ESPNcricinfo.

On the other hand, the former South African captain Faf du Plessis also lauded Samson, who scored his third consecutive fifty-plus score in the showpiece event, stating that he wasn’t trying to overhit the ball and his tempo was so beautiful. 

"What you can see is a guy that is in form and really true to the way that he wants to play. It looks like I am watching the previous innings again. It's just the game plan on display. You can see how clear he is in what is his strengths and the areas where he doesn't want to score. His tempo is so beautiful. It doesn't feel like he is trying to overhit the ball,” Faf du Plessis said.

Sanju Samson ended the mega event with 321 runs from five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37, with three consecutive fifty-plus scores against the West Indies, England, and New Zealand.

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