Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar showered praise on Sanju Samson for playing a crucial cameo against Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Thursday. Samson, who replaced Rinku Singh in the playing XI, scored 24 runs off 15 balls with the help of one four and two sixes. The right-hander added 48 runs for the opening alliance with Abhishek Sharma to give a decent start to the team.

The Indian opener was caught at deep square leg and thus could not convert his start. However, Gavaskar said you can not fault Samson as he was looking to take advantage of the fielding restrictions in the Powerplay overs.

Earlier in the tournament, Samson scored an 8-ball 22 against Namibia in Delhi when Abhishek Sharma was ruled out with a stomach infection.

Sunil Gavaskar said on India Today, “Well, he did what was expected of him – to get the team off to a good start. But as a batter, I think even he would want to get a 50-plus or maybe 70-80 and take the team very regularly to 200. So yes, I think he did what was expected of him, bringing a left-hand, right-hand combination to the crease, making it that much harder for the bowlers.”

“So, you cannot fault him because he was all the time looking to take advantage of the powerplay and the field restrictions,” the 76-year-old went on to add.

Meanwhile, India posted an above-par score of 256 runs on the board, which is their highest in T20 World Cups, after they were put into bat by Sikandar Raza. Abhishek Sharma scored 55 runs off 30 balls whereas Hardik Pandya an unbeaten 50 off 23 balls. Tilak Varma added the finishing touches, with a blistering cameo of 16-ball 44.

India will take on the West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday in what will be a virtual quarterfinal clash.