Former Indian batting coach Abhishek Nayar has lavished praise on Sanju Samson after India registered a five-wicket win against the West Indies in the Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday to book their place in the semifinals of the tournament.
Samson scored a fantastic knock of 97 runs off just 50 balls with the help of a dozen fours and four sixes. The Indian opener showed all the maturity in his strokeplay and batted with guile to take the team over the line in the run-chase of 196.
“Every player has a zone. When they go into that zone, they don’t see the scoreboard. They only see what ball can be bowled and where they can hit that ball, and Sanju Samson was looking something like that today (Sunday). He was using the crease and the angles,” Abhishek Nayar said on Star Sports.
Nayar highlighted that Samson’s impressive footwork showed his positive mindset while batting against the Windies.
“Generally, an in-form batter and a batter who is batting with a good mindset has different, different impact points, which means he is going towards the ball and also allowing the ball to come to him, and playing the ball in different, different areas. The footwork was confident. He was going fully forward when he had to and wasn’t taking a big stride when he had to play the short-arm pull. He hit the perfect zone,” Nayar elaborated.
The former Indian batter noted that Samson was not trying to hit the ball hard as he had clarity about his role.
“He said his role was clear at the start, that he had to bat aggressively. Every batter is aggressive, but the shot options he used, and the strategic and tactical options he used, showed the mentality and zone he was in because it never seemed like Sanju Samson was overhitting the ball,” he said.
Nayar praised Samson for planning his innings in a perfect manner in India’s win.
“It never seemed like he was slogging. He was using both finesse and power, and using them properly. It was a special innings. You need caliber, but in a chase, when wickets are falling in front of you, to hold your fort and to take chances at the right time and execute it under so much pressure, hats off to him,” Nayar observed.
India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
