Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin praised 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.
Samson scored a match-winning knock of 97 runs off just 50 balls as he batted at the top of his game in the run-chase of 196. The Indian opener scored 12 fours and four sixes in his blistering knock. Samson showed all the maturity and made the most of his experience in a must-win game for India.
Ashwin highlighted the shot which Samson played over the cover fielder as the best of the game.
“Sanju has the ability to hit those big sixes. He hit one six over extra cover or wide mid-off. To me, that was the shot of the day. But he left that game and in one over to Romario, he scored a boundary off the backfoot to the right of cover point. This is why people say he is a great player when he plays like this. He used this game today. When needed, he got the power game too. If he plays like this, no one can catch him,” Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Ashwin said this match-winning knock is the rebirth of Sanju Samson – the superstar and is certainly bigger than his other three T20I centuries.
“All of his fans talk a lot when he gets dropped, saying he has three hundreds. I want to tell all of his fans, those three hundreds are nothing. The way he batted today, that is the real birth of Sanju Samson the superstar,” he said.
The former Indian off-spinner praised Samson for proving his mettle to himself and not bothering about the outside noise.
“We have complimented him enough. But for himself, this is a big moment. Criticism comes from outside; people talk. And that can lead to self-doubt sometimes, because of insecurity as well. Who can counterattack his own mind will always win the world. In my books, this was Sanju’s credibility to himself, saying he can do it. Telling himself that he wanted to win a pressure game for India for so many years, and he was in and out, but he proved himself today,” he added.
India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
