Sanju Samson emotional after beating Virat Kohli’s MCG epic, taking India to T20 World Cup semis: ‘Kept doubting myself’

Samson’s knock was all the more special given the backdrop. Initially dropped due to poor form and Ishan Kishan’s stunning run, Samson returned to the playing XI in the Super 8s as the management looked to shake things up. They wanted a right-hander at the top to counter the opposition’s plan of opening with off-spinners during the Powerplay.

Samson, who made his T20I debut for India 11 years ago, was deservedly adjudged Player of the Match. In his post-match interview with Ian Bishop, the 31-year-old said he had waited all his life to play an innings like that and could hardly explain his happiness after taking India over the line in a crucial encounter.

“It means the whole world actually to me, I think right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, this is the day I was waiting for and very grateful, very thankful and I have always had a very special journey with lots of ups and downs but I have kept on doubting myself, kept on thinking what if, what if, can I make it, can I make it but I kept on believing and thanks to the Lord Almighty for actually blessing me today. So I am very happy,” said Samson.

“I have been playing this format for a very long time, I think playing IPL around 10 to 12 years and playing for the country from last 10 years, I have not been playing but looking from the dugout, learning from the greats like Virat Kohli, from Rohit Sharma, like all the greats, I think it's very important to observe and learn and see what they were doing. I think that really helped me, too. I think with my experience. I have only played maybe 50-60 games, but I have seen around 100 games,” he added.

“I have seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game. So I think as last game we were batting first so it was all about setting a very high score so that's how I wanted to go big right from ball one but this game was completely different. I think as soon as I wanted to go a bit higher, we were losing wickets,” said Samson.

Talking about his game plan, Samson said that his focus after losing wickets at regular intervals was to build partnerships and take the game deep. Samson was involved in valuable partnerships with Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya, with the small, yet steady stands helping India stay ahead of the curve ball.

“So I think I wanted to build a partnership, wanted to keep on focusing on my process, and I never felt that I would do something special like this, but I was just focusing on my role and just keeping one ball at a time, and I was very grateful. I think this is one of the greatest days of my life,” said Samson.

“I just brought myself into the present moment and just looked at the ball and trusted myself to react according to the ball in merit. So I think that worked out pretty well today,” he added.

The West Indies posted 195/4 after being asked to bat first. India chased down the target in 19.2 overs, thanks to Samson’s unbeaten knock, with Tilak (27) and Hardik (17) chipping in with valuable contributions.

The defending champions will now face England in the second semi-final on Thursday, March 5, at the Wankhede Stadium.

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