India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir made a bold claim after Sanju Samson powered the defending champions into the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal on Sunday, March 1.
Samson smashed an unbeaten 97 to help India crush the West Indies by five wickets in the final Super 8 clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. This victory sealed that final semifinal spot for India.
Gautam Gambhir makes bold claim on Sanju Samson’s heroics against West Indies
After India’s thrilling victory, majorly thanks to Samson, Gautam Gambhir has given the credit to the Indian cricket team management for the right-handed batter’s historic innings under pressure against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens.
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The head coach said that the team always trusted Samson, and he has now repaid the faith with his match-winning efforts in the big match. However, Gambhir hailed Samson as a world-class player. He further said that backing the wicketkeeper was the key.
Gautam Gambhir said at the post-match press conference, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “He’s a world-class player; we all know how good a player Sanju is. It was all about backing him. When the team needed him the most—obviously today was the day—he showed his full potential.”
Gautam Gambhir hails Samson’s calm batting under pressure
Praising the way the Kerala batter batted against the West Indies, the Indian head coach mentioned that Samson did not play wild shots, used clean cricket strokes and kept control of the chase.
He added, “I actually felt that he never accelerated the innings. It was just very normal cricketing shots, and I never saw him muscling the ball as well. That is the kind of talent he has.”
Gautam Gambhir also spoke about the tough T20I series against New Zealand at home, where Samson scored only 46 runs in five innings at a poor average of 9.20, with the highest score being 24.
Why was Samson given a break?
It was a disappointing series for the wicketkeeper-batter, so the team management gave him a small break during the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 to refresh his mind for the crucial games.
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However, the former World Cup winner has stressed that the team management always knew that Samson would stand up for India in the most important game, and he did it in style.
Gambhir said, “Obviously he had a tough series against New Zealand, so sometimes it’s important to give him a break as well, because you want to get the guy out of that pressure situation as well. And we always knew that whenever we needed him in the World Cup game, he’d come and deliver it for us.”
I don’t believe in data: Gautam Gambhir
The coach also made it clear that he does not believe in the idea of peaking at the right time after India bounced back with two strong wins following the defeat to South Africa in the Super 8 round. He stressed that every match is important and players must give their best in every game.
Gambhir also shared his simple approach. He signed off by saying, “I don’t believe in data, honestly. I’ve never seen the data. I don’t even know what data is all about. I absolutely do not believe it. Because I feel it’s more about instinct. I think T20 cricket is about instinct and backing your instinct as well.”
