Star India batter Sanju Samson has had a roller coaster of a career. At the age of 31, Samson has experienced almost everything there is to experience. From squad snubs to IPL heroics, and capping it all off with some exceptional performances in the T20 World Cup 2026.ย
Despite not being a part of Indiaโs playing XI for a major part of the tournament, Samson was a sporadic part of Indiaโs playing XI in the early stages of the competition but performed brilliantly in the last three games, becoming one of the biggest reasons for Indiaโs title win.
Speaking on the same, Samson talked about his conversation with former India skipper Rohit Sharma and revealed how he told him that he would get a chance later in the tournament.ย
“To be honest, I didn’t believe him at that time. Sorry. He might have spoken from his heart or from his experience, but that day I wasn’t able to see what he was seeing,” Samson said. “I went through that phase for four or five days before getting myself back on track. You know you’ve failed, so what’s next? You’re at the bottom, so from there, you can only go up. I started working on myself mentally. I started asking myself questions: why do I play cricket? What’s my purpose?” Samson told JioHotstar.ย
Watching Ishan Kishan move ahead of him
Samson didn’t hide from what came next. As his form dipped, Ishan Kishan’s stock rose fast, and Samson knew exactly what that meant for his own place in the side.
“I could clearly see that Ishan was moving above me in the pecking order. You get five matches and score 24, 6, 6, 10 and 0, then another guy comes in, scores 70-odd straightaway, gets a hundred later in the series, and the next match is directly in the T20 World Cup. Anyone would prefer an in-form batter,” he said. “It was clear that the World Cup was done for me. Whatever had to happen had happened, and the only thing I could do was sit quietly and clap,โ he said.
He also credited his wife for a mindset shift during that stretch. “I realised I was overdoing it, and my wife was right, being happy and mentally in a good space is much more important than putting in hours and hours of practice. The New Zealand series taught me that,โ he concluded.
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