Power of visualisation, guidance from Sachin: 'Player of the Tournament' Samson speaks after comeback for ages

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 9 (ANI): Following his side's T20 World Cup win, Indian batter Sanju Samson, who scripted an incredible redemption arc by securing the 'Player of the Tournament' in the competition despite starting off the year with poor form and exclusion from the team, spoke on how guidance from legendary Sachin Tendulkar helped him overcome his struggles just when he felt "his dreams were shattered" following a disastrous New Zealand series.
Samson scripted a comeback for ages, as he overcame poor form and exclusion from the playing eleven to shine when everything was at stake. Having scored just 46 runs in five innings against NZ before this tournament, Samson lost his place in the team to Ishan Kishan. When a leftie-dominant top-order was struggling against off-spin, destiny handed Sanju a second chance and he grabbed it with every inch of life he had in his hands. Right from the virtual quarterfinal against West Indies to the title clash against New Zealand, Samson mesmerised one and all with his tidy strokeplay, timing and broke records to join legends like Virat Kohli, Shahid Afridi, etc. in the history books of the T20 World Cup.
Samson made 321 runs so far in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37, with 27 fours and 24 sixes, and ended as the third-highest run-getter in the tournament. He also surpassed Virat Kohli's total of 319 runs in the 2014 T20WC edition to have the most runs by an Indian during a single T20WC edition. However, Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan overtook Virat's record earlier, ending the tournament as the leading run-getter with 383 runs at an average of 76.60 and a strike rate of 160.25, with two centuries and two fifties.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Samson spoke about how he felt "out of words and emotions". The batter said that when he was not a part of the T20 World Cup playing eleven back in 2024, he would visualise and keep on working on things he wanted to do.
"After the NZ series, I was broken; my dreams were completely shattered. And I was thinking what I can do. But God had different plans. And I was rewarded for being brave enough to dream. A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me out. For the last couple of months, I have been in constant contact with Sachin sir. I reached out to him and had big, big conversations with him. Getting guidance from someone like him, what more can you ask for? I am very grateful for everyone who supported me. This itself is very big for me, I want to enjoy it right now, and then after a few days, I will figure out what more to do," he added.
Coming to the match, NZ won the toss and elected to field first. However, a return-to-form, record-breaking fifty from Abhishek Sharma (52 in 21 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and his 98-run stand with Samson made NZ regret the decision. Later, Samson stitched a century stand with Ishan Kishan (54 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) to take India past the 200-run mark in the 16th over. After a brief slowdown, Shivam Dube (26* in eight balls, with three fours and two sixes) made some valuable runs to take India to 255/5, the highest total in T20WC finals.
James Neesham (3/46) was the leading wicket-taker for NZ.
In the run-chase of 256 runs, Axar Patel (3/23) and Jasprit Bumrah (4/15) reduced the Kiwis to 72/5, despite a half-century from Tim Seifert (52 in 26 balls, with two fours and five sixes). Despite a brief partnership between Daryl Mitchell (17) and skipper Mitchell Santner (43 in 35 balls, with three fours and two sixes), India kept chipping in with wickets, and the Kiwis were bundled out for just 159 runs. (ANI)