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Sanju Samson (L), Lifting World Cup Trophy with Kuldeep Yadav (R) (Source: X/AFP)
Sanju Samsonâs journey and role in India's T20 World Cup 2026 triumph was like a fairy tale that never had the protagonist in the broader part of the story until destiny brought a cinematic twist. A player who was not even in the plans of playing XI, imagine predicting him as the player of the tournament for his performances.
One would definitely be on the receiving end of the jokes, or nobody will take this kind of prediction seriously. But it was Sanju Samsonâs World Cup in which he did what nobody wouldâve even wild-guessed, let alone predicted.
It takes a completely different kind of depth and patience for a player to spend most of his career on the bench rather than playing on the field. Most players who struggle with this phase announce their retirement out of disappointment, but that was not the case with Samson; destiny finally smiled on him.
Hence, this article delves into the poetic journey in a cricketing career full of ups and downs. It also sheds light on the factors that paved the way for Sanju Samsonâs redemption at the highest stage of the game.
The career trajectory that tested Sanju Samson to his limits
How would someone react or respond if he is told that âa player was given a chance to play his careerâs second T20I after more than five years of his debut in the formatâ? The reaction or response to this fact will definitely raise many questions about the selection criteria.
Surprisingly, the aforementioned hypothetical situation actually exists in reality. Sanju Samson, the player of the tournament in Indiaâs record-extending T20 World Cup triumph, had exactly the same journey at the start of his T20I career. On July 19, 2015, Samson made his T20I debut for India against Zimbabwe, in which he couldnât make a big impact and scored 19 runs off 24 balls.
In what could be shocking for anyone to know, Samson wasnât included in Indiaâs T20I XI for the next four years till January 2020. It was something that triggered the Indian fans to demand the then-young batter, whose career started going in vain.
Apart from getting ignored at the time of team selections, Sanju Samson also had his own struggles with the batting failures. He couldnât cross a 30-run mark in the first 10 T20I innings of his career. However, things took a bit of a positive turn for him in 2022, the year in which he also scored his T20I careerâs first half-century.
Just a few days later, another slump found its way to Sanju Samson's career. But being part of the T20I team in only 19 games, even after eight years of his debut, clearly reflects how Samson was tested to his limits in this volatile trajectory of his career. Many players have been seen getting lost in the oblivion of this kind of struggle.
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The primary cause of downfall addressed after nine years of debut
But there was something that was definitely the reason behind the talented batterâs downfall. The reason may have been noticed by some experts and fans, but Samson never said it, and thatâs something that makes him an amazing character of his own kind.
The reason was simply that the management did not fix his batting position. In the first 10 innings of his T20I career, Samson was sent at four different positions to bat by the Indian team management. Once it was fixed by the management in 2024, everyone witnessed a 180-degree turnaround in Samsonâs batting.
From Hyderabad to Durban, he smashed two consecutive and swashbuckling centuries in the two games against Bangladesh and South Africa, respectively. Later in the third T20I of the same four-match series against the Proteas, Samson smashed another explosive and unbeaten century, scoring 109 runs off just 56 balls.
It sounds quite strange to know that it took nine years for a team management to understand which position a batter fits perfectly. But this strange fact was also one of the harsh realities in Sanju Samsonâs complicated T20I career filled with more turnarounds than milestones.
But he never looked back after his position was moved to the opening slot. Since the 2024 success in South Africa, Samson played in the middle order in only four games of the Asia Cup and a T20I against Australia in 2025. So, the nucleus of the concern, which was finally resolved after nine years, actually benefited India.
Captainâs laugh that Samson endured before dream T20 World Cup run
A player is usually acclimatised to all sorts of things in his career, be it praise, criticism or sympathy. But nothing could be more disheartening for a cricketer than seeing his own captain laughing at his inclusion in the playing XI.
The same happened during the T20 World Cup 2026 when Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav almost mocked Samsonâs inclusion in the XI. That too when Samson looked in decent form in his first-ever T20 World Cup innings in the overall 50th innings of his T20I career.
Writing the redemption in style: The âSpecial Samson Statementâ
Nonetheless, destiny had other plans to repay the 31-year-oldâs years of struggle and write his redemption in a way no one would have ever imagined. After two quick starts in the group stage and the Super Eight, Sanju Samson finally played a statement knock in the game when it mattered the most for India.
It was his unbeaten 97-run knock that took India to the semi-finals. On the back of Samsonâs knock, India defeated West Indies by five wickets in the virtual quarter-final. It was the very knock that made skipper Suryakumar Yadav bow down to the excellence of the batter whom he once mocked with a laugh.
Sanju Samson roared again with an amazing 89-run knock to help India win the semi-final against England and secure a spot in the final. The final between India and New Zealand was another day of âSamson supremacyâ. With another 89-run knock off just 46 balls, he became one of the central figures in Indiaâs historic T20 World Cup triumph.
He also became only the third batter in World T20 history to score a half-century in the semi-final and final. Nothing seems to be more dramatic in a playerâs journey from getting benched to winning the player of the tournament in the same T20 World Cup. He ended up with 321 runs in five innings, including three half-centuries, with most sixes (24) in the tournament.
It looks quite unreal to know that a player who played only five matches became the Indian batter with most runs in a single World T20 edition, surpassing Virat Kohli. So, Sanju Samsonâs redemption can be summed up in what Sigmund Freud said years ago: âOne day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.â
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