In the T20 World Cup, ‘Player of the Tournament’ Sanju Samson played an important role in India’s victory by scoring 321 runs. He broke the Indian record for most runs in a single edition. According to the coach, Sanju put the team above personal records.
Mumbai: After India’s victory in the T20 World Cup, the incredible performance of Malayalam star Sanju Samson is being talked about a lot in the cricket world. Sanju, who became the ‘Player of the Tournament’, played an important role in making the team champion by scoring three consecutive half centuries. During this period, he came very close to the century and missed it twice. In the Super 8 match against West Indies, he remained not out on 97 runs, while in the semi-final against England, he was out on 89 runs while playing a big shot.
Now Team India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has narrated an interesting anecdote. He told that when he asked Sanju to score a century, he was surprised to hear his answer. Kotak told this in an interview given to news agency IANS.
Kotak told, “I told Sanju, man, at least score a century.” To this Sanju laughingly replied, “Kotak Bhai, on one hand you say that personal records do not matter for the team and on the other hand you are asking me to score a century. How can both of these happen together?” Kotak further said that he was stunned to hear this mature answer from Sanju. Sanju had made it clear with his words that team victory is more important for him than personal record.
Sanju was in the 2024 World Cup team, but he did not get a chance to play a single match. But after the form he achieved in the Super 8 match against West Indies in 2026, there was no looking back. In this World Cup, Sanju scored 321 runs in 5 innings. Along with this, he also broke the record of Virat Kohli (319 runs, 2014) of the Indian batsman scoring the most runs in a T20 World Cup edition.
Kotak also told that Sanju’s form was not good before the tournament, but he was confident that he would be useful to the team at important times. Recalling Sanju’s words, Kotak said, “He always used to say that whenever the team needs me, I will contribute.”