Kapil Dev refuses to comment on Sanju Samson’s 97*: India have booked their place in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after defeating West Indies by 5 wickets in the virtual quarter-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last Sunday. The India national cricket team will take on the England national cricket team in the semi-finals on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Wankhede Stadium.
Ahead of the semi-finals, former India captain Kapil Dev has shared his thoughts on the team’s performance last weekend, and expressed his congratulations and support to the Men in Blue ahead of their crucial encounter.
I want to wish the best to the Indian team- Kapil Dev
Speaking to ANI News ahead of The League Final, India’s first professional golf league, PGTI President Kapil Dev was also asked about Sanju Samson’s remarkable performance against the Windies. He also responded by focusing on the fact that cricket is a team game and does not depend on individual performance.
Here is the video
Kapil Dev on Sanju Samson: “It’s about the team, not just one individual”#Kapil Dev #PGTI #golfindia #72League #mygame pic.twitter.com/pwtDCODxvU
– myKhel.com (@mykhelcom) 3 March 2026
“It’s for the team. Good luck to the team, not to any one individual. And I want to wish the Indian team all the best. Now we are very close to the championship, and I want to wish them all the best,” Kapil Dev told MyKhel.
Sanju Samson steps up to the big occasion
Sanju Samson played a brilliant inning of 97* runs in 50 balls against the Caribbean country at Eden Gardens. He stood firm on India’s target of 196 runs from the very beginning. He also scored the winning run for the team by hitting a four after requiring one run from five balls.
Sanju Samson’s historic inning of 97* was the highest individual score ever by an Indian batsman in a T20 World Cup run chase. Sanju overtook the record of former India captain Virat Kohli, who had scored 82 twice in 160+ run chases.
During this innings, India also made the record of the most successful run chase in T20 World Cup history. This was only the fourth time that a target of 160+ runs was achieved. The second time this was chased when Virat Kohli was part of the T20I team.
Record breaking Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson also created a record for himself, as this was the first time in 29 innings while opening the batting in a run chase in a T20I or Indian Premier League (IPL) that the wicketkeeper-batsman remained unbeaten till the end of the innings.
The 31-year-old batsman looked in good form in the two matches played before this big innings. However, despite getting a good start, he could not convert it into a big score. However, he chose a big opportunity for India when qualification was at stake.
West Indies set a target of 195/4 in 20 overs, driven by contributions from Roston Chase (40), Hope (32), Shimron Hetmyer (27) and an unbeaten 76-run partnership between Jason Holder (37*) and Rovman Powell (34*).
While chasing the target, Suryakumar Yadav (18), Tilak Verma (27), Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dubey (8*) contributed from India’s side, due to which India achieved the target with four balls remaining.
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