New Delhi: Sanju Samson is the only Indian player nominated for the T20 World Cup 2026 Player of the Tournament award. The wicketkeeper-batter has played two match-winning knocks in India’s knockout matches against the West Indies and England.
The other Player of the tournament nominees are England’s Will Jacks, Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan, South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi and captain Aiden Markram, New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert, and the USA bowler Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Samson didn’t play in the early matches of the T20 World Cup, but delivered exceptional performances with consecutive player-of-the-match awards. He smashed 89 runs off 42 balls in the semifinal against England in Mumbai on Thursday. He also scored 97 runs off 50 balls in India’s five-wicket victory over the West Indies in the semifinal knockout match.
He has so far amassed 232 runs at an average of 77.33 and a strike rate of 201.73 in four World Cup matches. Jacks has played a crucial role in England’s T20 World Cup campaign. He won four player-of-the-match awards, scoring 226 runs and picking up nine wickets from eight matches.
Farhan scored 383 runs in six innings and broke the record for the most runs scored in a single edition of a T20 World Cup. He also became the first player to smash two hundreds in a single edition of the tournament, scoring centuries against Sri Lanka and Namibia.
South African pacer Lungi Ngidi took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.10 and was their most consistent pacer, while their captain, Aiden Markram, scored 286 runs and also took a wicket.
New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra also played an important role in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup campaign, hitting 128 runs and taking 11 wickets from eight matches. The USA pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk bowled brilliantly in the tournament and picked up 13 wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 6.80.
New Zealand Wicketkeeper-batter Seifert has also played an important part in the team’s run to the T20 World Cup final, amassing 274 runs in eight matches, hitting three fifties. India will face New Zealand in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Nominated cricketers for the Player of the Tournament award
Sanju Samson (India)
Will Jacks (England)
Sahibzada Farhan (Pakistan)
Lungi Ngidi (South Africa)
Aiden Markram (South Africa)
Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)
Tim Seifert (New Zealand)
Shadley van Schalkwyk (USA)