NEW DELHI: Sanju Samson’s immense talent has never been in doubt, but a difficult bilateral series against New Zealand prompted the team management to give him a break ahead of the T20 World Cup, head coach Gautam Gambhir said after the Kerala batter guided India into the semi-finals with a sensational knock.
Samson struck an unbeaten 97 under pressure, anchoring a challenging 196-run chase against the West Indies on Sunday night.
“Obviously, he had a tough series against New Zealand. So sometimes it’s important to give him (Samson) a break as well, because you want to get the guy off that pressure situation as well,” head coach Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.
After being pushed down the order during the Asia Cup — a move that affected his rhythm — Samson was given a full series against New Zealand.
However, a string of low scores — 10, 6, 0, 24, 6 — led to mounting criticism.
He did not feature in India’s tournament opener against the USA. An illness to Abhishek Sharma brought him back for the Namibia match, but he was dropped again thereafter.
A personal tragedy involving Rinku Singh (the death of his father), coupled with the team management’s desire to avoid an overload of left-handers at the top, resulted in Samson’s return to the XI.
Asked about his conversations with Samson during this stop-start phase, Gambhir said:
“I have conversations with everyone and the most important thing is the guys who are part of this squad, are world class players and that’s why they are representing the country. We always knew the talent that Sanju had. Three T20 hundreds, not many people have it, so we always knew that.
“And we always knew that whenever we need him in the World Cup game, he’ll come and deliver for us.”
Gambhir felt the foundation for Samson’s match-winning effort was laid during his brisk 24 off 15 balls against Zimbabwe, when he came in as a replacement for Rinku.
“Against Zimbabwe, he delivered for us. We got a start that we wanted in the first three overs. And today, again, from where he left against Zimbabwe, he showcased his talent. And this is what we expect from Sanju to do more consistently.”
One striking aspect of Samson’s innings was the tempo. Scoring at a strike-rate of 194, he appeared composed rather than reckless — a point Gambhir highlighted.
“I actually thought that he never accelerated the innings. It was just a very, very normal cricketing shots and I never saw any muscling the ball as well and that is the kind of talent he has.”
Samson relied heavily on classical ground strokes and sharp running between the wickets — traits not always associated with his T20 approach.
“When you know that you are in control of the game and feeling good, you start hitting the ball really well in the nets.”
Though often criticised for inconsistency, Gambhir believes this innings could mark a turning point.
“I have always said that he is a world class player, he is a great talent and hopefully he can kick off from now and hopefully we can see a lot more innings like this from Sanju. It was all about backing him. Today was a day where he probably showed his true potential as well. And hopefully, this is a time for him to kick off and probably two more games to go, hopefully,” the coach said optimistically.
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