T20 World Cup: Head coach Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on Sanju Samson for his match-winning exploits in India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup victory, calling his resilience and performance ‘special’ and highlighting the character the wicketkeeper-batter displayed under pressure.
Asked about Samson winning the Player of the Tournament award and whether it brought a sense of deja vu to India’s 2011 World Cup heroics of Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir noted, “Look, it’s not fair to compare two people. I think Sanju, what he’s done… see, again, Sanju did that three in a row, three in a row doing it and especially after coming back from the kind of form that he was in. You know, it takes so much of character and courage where you know that maybe your career is on the line.”
He emphasised that Samson’s journey during the tournament was unique. “Even if the captain and I can show as much faith, trust, everything in him, deep inside you know that obviously you didn’t have a great series against New Zealand before the start of the World Cup, and then you didn’t start on the playing level during the World Cup. Then making a comeback like that and playing those kinds of innings with that kind of, what, strike rate or with that kind of flamboyance… You need to have a special player, you need to be a special talent,” Gambhir noted.
