India’s T20 World Cup hero Sanju Samson cited the importance of winning the game for India with an impressive innings, which matters more than his personal milestone of scoring three centuries in World Cup games.
Times change, and new players make new contributions to teams; However, despite the stalwarts who have put in consistent efforts to lead them to victory on several occasions, their shine and their excellence remains unaffected.
The Indian team has changed massively between the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup, but one thing that remained constant was India’s unaffected legacy in ICC tournaments. New players, new roles, but the tricolor waved at the top at the end of the ICC event.
Sanju Samson clarified India’s priorities in the Suryakumar-Gambhir era
World Cup champions Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, who arrived at the India Today Conclave 2026, spoke on India’s approach to the game under captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Vikrant Gupta asked Sanju Samson, “Not the culture, but the concept of Indian cricket, that individual milestones are good and very important, but they are not the ‘be all, be all’.
“For example, he said, Sanju could have scored three centuries; he couldn’t. Someone else might have played those six balls and scored 26 more runs. So is there really a conscious effort, or do we hear all these things only after winning the World Cup?”
Sanju Samson couldn’t shy away from answering this, as he said that ever since Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav took charge of the Indian team, the importance of individual milestones has been sidelined, and what remains the focal point of the Indian system is to win for the team.
“No, paaji, it’s absolutely true; I think Abhi would agree with me. These are consistent conversations and points we have made in team meetings. Right from the Sri Lanka series, where Surya and Gautam Bhai were the leaders of the Indian team. From that very moment, it was very clear that there was no individual milestone.
He said, “So, that’s how we all adapted and our character became more in line with the team’s starting point. Of course, it’s a conscious effort.”
I really contributed very well – Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson entered the T20 World Cup game against West Indies, the final game of India’s Super-8 campaign, scoring nearly 50 runs, but since then the world has been treated to one of India’s most memorable batting performances in the World Cup.
Breaking the record, Sanju played a courageous inning of 97* to take India to the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup. In the semi-final, he scored another 89 and took India to a massive score of 250+, and then following the same in the final, Samson scored another special 89 and clinched the World Cup for the defending champions.
However, many believe that Samson missed his three eligible centuries in the T20 World Cup. To this Sanju Samson said, “Three hundred, which people say I missed. I think a huge job was done; I think I contributed really well.”
“Winning the game was more important than my three centuries”
– Sanju on missing three centuries
Direct attack on that one man pic.twitter.com/RwFNVonYPZ
—` (@WorshipDhoni) 14 March 2026
Who has the most runs in the winning cause for India in the ICC T20 World Cup?
Now, many have cited the Indian World Cup winner’s words as an attack on former World Cup winner Virat Kohli, who, according to many, has cited individual achievements more than leading his team to victory.
Talking about Virat’s legacy, the Chessmaster is India’s most successful batsman in ICC tournaments, having scored the most runs while chasing the target. Talking about the T20 World Cup, Kohli retired in 2024 with 809 runs in 19 innings, the most for India during the team’s victorious campaign.
Rohit is next in this list with 702 runs. Rohit Sharma was the architect behind selfless shotmaking in India. As captain, he took charge and thrashed the bowlers early on, regardless of individual achievements in the 2023 World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup.
Also read: Not Gautam Gambhir, Tilak Verma reveals the real mastermind behind their victory in the World Cup