"Cricket fans will be happy that Samson has got success he deserves": Sunil Gavaskar

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Sanju Samson produced a match-winning 97 not out as India defeated the West Indies by five wickets in a must-win Super Eight match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
India successfully chased down a 196-run target in a do-or-die clash with four balls and five wickets to spare, and Samson was named Player of the Match for his sensational knock.
Now, India will face England in the semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Speaking on Star Sports, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar hailed Samson's knock against the West Indies and also praised the strike rotation of the Indian players during the chase.
Talking about Samson's unbeaten knock, he said, "This knock of 97 not out takes the weight off not just Sanju Samson's shoulders, but off everyone who knows what a fine player he has been. He has had ups and downs, and we have felt them too because he is such a nice guy. Everybody wants him to do well. All Indian cricket fans will be happy that this sincere cricketer has got the success he deserves."
"To be the Man of the Match in a must-win game is a dream come true. You could see the emotions on Sanju's face after he hit the winning runs. He was three runs short of a hundred, and it would have been fantastic had he reached the three-figure mark. But maybe another hundred is on the way in some other match. It was not an easy target to chase down, but this set of players didn't give up, and they pulled off the unbelievable," said Gavaskar.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to field first. Roston Chase (40 in 25 balls, with five fours and a six) and skipper Shai Hope (32 in 33 balls, with three fours and a six) put on an opening stand of 68 runs for first wicket, but WI slipped to 119/4 in 14.1 overs, despite a fiery cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (27 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes).
It was the pair of Jason Holder (37* in 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Powell (34* in 19 balls, with three fours and two sixes) who put on a fiery stand of 76 runs in 35 balls, taking WI to 195/4 in 20 overs.
Gavaskar also seemed impressed with the continuous strike rotation of the Indian batters while chasing a near 200-run target.
Speaking on how India managed to rotate strike during the chase, "Having a set batter at one end is very beneficial. The other batter can look to knock singles and give more strikes to the set batter. That way, there are not too many dot balls. In T20 cricket, the idea is to have as few dot balls as possible. I think the Indian team has realised that."
"If you look at the teams with the lowest percentage of dot balls, India are pretty high up there. I am not saying they are the best, but they are up there. That is where half the battle is won. Out of 120 deliveries, if you score runs off 80 to 85 balls, you give yourself a real chance to chase scores like 190 to 200, and India did exactly that against the West Indies."
Jasprit Bumrah (2/36 in four overs) was India's leading bowler, with Varun Chakaravarthy and Hardik Pandya dropping a spell of 1/40 in four overs each.
In the run-chase, India was reduced to 41/2 within the powerplay. It was a 58-run stand between Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (18), which brought the chase back on track. Then Sanju went on to stitch partnerships with Tilak Varma (27 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dube (8*), taking India to a five-wicket win. (ANI)