NEW DELHI: Star Indian batter Sanju Samson recently opened up on his relationship with captain Rohit Sharma and what happened after he had been dropped from the playing XI in the last T20 World Cup final.
Speaking on journalist Vimal Kumar’s YouTube channel, Samson revealed that he was initially set to play in the final against South Africa in Barbados but was dropped at the last moment as the team decided to retain the same lineup.
“I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready, and I was ready. But just before the toss, they decided to stick with the same XI. During warm-ups, Rohit took me aside to explain the decision. He asked, ‘You understood, na?'” Samson shared. “I told him, ‘Let’s focus on winning the match first; we can talk later.'”
Samson recalled Rohit returning shortly after, sensing Samson’s disappointment. “He said, ‘I know you’re cursing me in your mind.’ I told him that as a player, I wanted to play. It had been my dream to perform in moments like these. Rohit explained his pattern and the reasons behind the decision. I told him I respected his explanation, but I will always carry a regret—that I missed playing a World Cup final under a leader like him,” Samson added.
Samson admitted that the 10-minute conversation before the toss left a lasting impact, noting, “I thought, in such a high-pressure moment like a World Cup final, the captain would usually focus on the game or the players who are playing. But Rohit took 10 minutes to explain his decision to me before the toss, and then he went for the toss. That gesture won him a place in my heart forever.”
While Samson has often found himself on the fringes of the national team, he was part of India’s squad that won the 2024 T20 World Cup.
However, he didn’t get a chance to play in any of the eight matches, with Rishabh Pant being preferred as the first-choice wicket-keeper batter.
The tournament also marked Pant’s comeback to international cricket after his car accident, with the left-handed slogger slotting in at number three throughout the campaign.
Despite missing out during the World Cup, Samson made a resounding in the recent T20I series against Bangladesh. In the second T20I, he hammered a stunning 111 off just 47 balls, leading India to a record-breaking total of 297/6— the highest-ever T20I score by a full-member ICC nation.
His blistering knock, featuring 11 fours and eight sixes, was the second-fastest T20I century by an Indian, achieved in just 40 balls.