Sanju Samson was the man of the evening for Team India on March 1 in Kolkata. On the basis of the batsman’s unbeaten inning of 97 runs, Team India achieved the strong target of 196 runs with 4 balls remaining.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez praised the Indian opener in a live television show named TapMad. While Hafeez focused on the Indian cricket ecosystem that produced players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson, Ali realized the immense talent in Samson.
It was necessary for India to win this match in T20 World Cup 2026.
The ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup is important for Team India, not only because they are the co-hosts and defending champions, but also because they are playing the tournament without two stalwarts – Rohit and Virat. Without these two icons, who would be the mainstay of the Men in Blue? This was one of the major questions before the tournament.
India needed to defeat West Indies to reach the semi-finals and thanks to Sanju Samson, they did this task successfully. He remained at the crease for a long time, hitting twelve fours and four sixes, until the winning stroke of the game.
Mohammad Hafeez discusses Indian cricket infrastructure
“It was because of India’s system. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Verma and Samson are all products of this system. From a young age, the system helped them grow. What makes me even happier is that when you set the standards of the system, when you set the standards of your cricket, you are not dependent on any one player”, Mohammad Hafeez explained.
Here is the video
“The player is dependent and prepares his game and performs at the same place. There was no difference between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Tilak Verma came and Sanju Samson came. So we have to see if there is a true reason for someone’s success due to which he has set the standards of representing his country and the player is being prepared accordingly.”
Basit Ali compared Sanju Samson to Virat Kohli
Basit Ali has compared Sanju Samson with Virat Kohli in this YouTube video. The way the opener faced the Caribbean bowlers last night reminded him of former batsman Virat Kohli.
“You can see glimpses of Virat Kohli in his batting – how he takes runs at different bowlers – and he also has power… I was making a lot of mental notes thinking, ‘Man, this guy is good at chasing.’ We usually say this about Virat Kohli, but today, Kohli was not even in the match,” Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel CricketInsight.
With the win over West Indies, Team India has reached the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. South Africa and India are the two teams from Group 1 that will play the next stage of the tournament. India will face England in the semi-finals on March 5 in Mumbai.
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