After his 89 helped India defeat England in an exciting semi-final, opener Sanju Samson stated on that he wanted “one more” game-winning innings to let India to defend the T20 World Cup title.
Samson’s 42-ball innings helped India to a massive 253/7, a total that England almost chased down at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, finishing at 246/7. Before Harry Brook’s team lost by seven runs and India advanced to their fourth T20 World Cup final, Jacob Bethell’s outstanding 105 kept England in the hunt until the very last over.
In the final on Sunday in Ahmedabad, India will play New Zealand in an attempt to become the first team to win the trophy at home and to successfully defend it. They might also be the first team to win the championship three times.
Samson’s unbeaten 97 in a winner-take-all match against the West Indies on Sunday has been crucial to placing pre-tournament favorites India in this position. In the semi-final, he continued to play well, hitting eight fours and seven sixes to put India ahead.
“It feels really great. I have been actually for a few years trying to do something like this for my country. So definitely I should be very grateful, but I kind of feel that we have one more step to go. If we do that, then I think all the work, everything was worth it. So I think that one more innings should be really good,” AFP quoted Samson saying after the match against England.
Samson, 31, has been in and out of the Indian team and had appeared in just one group encounter against Namibia as Abhishek Sharma was sidelined due to illness. In order to break Abhishek and Ishan Kishan’s all-left-handed starting combo, India brought Samson back in their Super Eights match against Zimbabwe, and he hasn’t looked back.
Samson has only participated in 61 Twenty20 matches for India since making his debut in 2015 and claimed that despite the difficulties he faced in securing a spot on the Indian team and the resulting disappointments, he managed to block out the noise by avoiding social media.
“I wanted to make an impact and get into the XI of the World Cup here. The people whom I love, they were with me. And I closed all my windows. I shut down my phone. I was not on social media. I am still not on social media. So less noise, less people interacting with me. So I think that really helped me to focus,” said Samson.
