Ben Stokes picks his favourite young Indian batsmen

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2026, in one of the biggest trades in the tournament's history, Samson was traded from RR to CSK and will don the yellow colours at the price of Rs 18 crores. In turn, Sam Curran and seasoned all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were traded to the inaugural champions. While Jadeja's price will go down from Rs 18 crores (at CSK) to Rs 14 crores, Curran will continue receiving his existing fee of Rs 2.4 crores.

The wicketkeeper-batter was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his consistent performance, where he amassed 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37, hitting 27 fours and 24 sixes and ended as the third-highest run-getter in the T20 WC.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Gambhir said he backed Sanju Samson because he believed the batter has a lot to offer the team, adding that a lean patch is temporary and referring to his struggles with the bat during the New Zealand series before the T20 World Cup.

Kerala's Leader of the Opposition, VD Satheesan praised the Indian cricketer Sanju Samson on his contribution to Team India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026-winning campaign, which saw them defeat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Samson scripted a comeback for ages during the recently-concluded T20 World Cup as he battled inconsistency and benching to emerge as India's leading run-getter in the tournament, delivering clutch performances when it mattered the most, with a string of half-centuries from virtual quarterfinal against West Indies to the title clash against New Zealand. When the entire cricketing world had their eyes on world number one batter Abhishek Sharma, a recently-returned Ishan Kishan and skipper Suryakumar Yadav as India's potential top run-getter and 'X-Factors', Sanju's domineering presence and authoritative strokeplay were out of the syllabus for his opponents.