India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed the notion that Sanju Samson was included in India’s playing XI to tackle off-spin. India’s top three left-handers – Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma – were struggling a bit against the opposition’s off-spin but Gambhir revealed they wanted more explosiveness at the top of the order.

Samson was included in the Super 8 stage match against Zimbabwe after India suffered a crushing 76-run loss against South Africa.

The 31-year-old returned with scores of 97(50), 89(42), and 89(46) in the virtual quarterfinals, semifinal and final of the tournament, respectively. The right-hander was awarded Player of the tournament after he scored 321 runs in five matches at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.38.

Samson delivered in the three big matches and played a key role in India’s success.

Speaking to JioHotstar, Gautam Gambhir said, “I know a lot of people will talk about how we wanted to break the three left-handers at the top, not at all. We just felt that we wanted to be more explosive because the ideology in the last one and a half years has been to go out there and be as explosive as we can be.

“The reason to bring in Sanju was not about managing the off-spinner from the other end. It was about whether we could get even more firepower at the top and be more aggressive in the first six overs,” the former India opener added.

Gambhir said if Samson gets going, he can win you the game in the Powerplay overs.

He concluded, “We know what Sanju can do, there was never any doubt about his talent and explosiveness. If he gets going, he can win you the game in the first six overs.”

Samson will be next seen in action while playing for CSK in IPL 2026.