Sourav Ganguly praised Sanju Samson: India defeated West Indies by 5 wickets in the virtual quarter-finals of the 2026 T20 World Cup at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Men in Blue have now qualified for the semi-finals, joining the other three nations, South Africa, England and New Zealand. India achieved the target of 196 runs with four balls remaining.
It was a masterclass from Sanju Samson in the coveted chase last night as India set a record for the most successful run chase in T20 World Cup history. Sanju Samson’s unbeaten inning of 97* off 50 balls was the highest individual score ever by an Indian batsman in a T20 World Cup run chase.
Sanju Samson replied to all the critics
Sanju overtook the record of former India captain Virat Kohli, who had scored 82 twice while chasing the target of 160+ runs for the India national cricket team against Australia and Pakistan respectively. Praising his innings, former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly, who watched Sanju Samson’s entire innings live from the stadium, shared his opinion on Samson’s amazing innings.
Current Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly, while speaking to PTI, said, “What this teaches us all is that in the last six months not a single guy could be found, he was in and out, either Ishan Kishan was opening or someone else was coming in.”
Here is the video
Video | Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised Sanju Samson, who played an unbeaten 97-run match-winning innings against West Indies in the Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup, which took India to the semi-finals.
He says, “What this teaches us all is… pic.twitter.com/ftrFdZjtg9
– Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) 2 March 2026
He further added, “Just before the World Cup, I used to see media headlines saying that Sanju failed again, he should not get a place in the team, India has so much talent, why is Shubman Gill not in the team and yet here is a guy in the quarter-final game, scores 97 and takes you to the semi-finals.”
Is this Sanju Samson’s redemption?
Samson has been one of the most unlucky cricketers of India. Despite making his debut in 2015, he has played 60 T20Is for the team. However, he has been in and out of the team, performing well and never receiving any major support. Similarly, he performed sensationally in 2024 by scoring three centuries.
Later, after a sensational year, Sanju was dropped from the opening position and dropped from the team to bat in the middle order to fit Shubman Gill in the team. The Kerala-born batsman had a very bad year in 2025, with his average falling from 43.60 to 20.18.
Sanju Samson chose a big opportunity to showcase his talent
However, despite opening again in 2026, he could not get his rhythm back and was dropped from the team as Ishan Kishan opened the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the T20 World Cup. But destiny had something else in store. First, Abhishek Sharma had a stomach ache when Sanju played a game against Namibia, in which he scored 22 runs in 8 balls. However, he was dropped in the next game.
Then Rinku Singh had to return home due to a family emergency before the Zimbabwe match, and Sanju made it to the re-opening, and he started against Chevron, but could not convert it. Samson picked up a big opportunity in the crucial match against West Indies and helped his team qualify for the semi-finals.
Also read: Sanju Samson, the new Virat Kohli! India, Pakistan legends are in awe after T20 World Cup masterclass
