The Hands of God that shaped Sanju Samson's T20 World Cup redemption

Sometimes, the most profound victories are those that begin with a silent, devastating surrender.

Long before Sanju Samson stood on the podium at Ahmedabad, clutching a Player of the Tournament trophy as a T20 World Cup winner, he was a man who had mentally packed his bags and left the building. He was gone, not just from the playing XI, but from the belief that the game he loved still loved him back.

What followed was a revival orchestrated by a unique convergence of forces: a technical benediction from the God of Cricket, a tactical crisis that turned into a divine opening, and a support system that functioned more like a sanctuary than a dugout. This is the story of how Sanju Samson, broken by the weight of his own expectations, was put back together by the hands of those who saw what he had ceased to see in himself.

To appreciate the height of Samson’s current pedestal, one must recall the depth of his despair in January.

In January, the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram was turned into a cathedral built for one man. A 50-foot cutout of Sanju Samson stood sentinel over the gates, a towering symbol of Kerala’s obsession with its favourite son, who was set to play his first T20 international game in his hometown. The script was written: Samson, having survived being benched during the Asia Cup and the tour of Australia, had finally reclaimed the opening slot. This was the final audition for the T20 World Cup.

Instead, the carnival turned into a wake. While Samson struggled, scratching together a mere 46 runs across five matches, his opening partner Ishan Kishan struck a magnificent, definitive century on Samson’s own soil. Ishan all but sealed the opening spot with that hundred, while Samson fell behind in the pecking order, once again.

The giant cutout at the entrance of the Greenfield Stadium became a mocking monument to what could have been.

"I was absolutely broken," Samson said at the India Today Conclave on Saturday, recalling the tough phase at the start of the T20 World Cup. "I thought I would win the World Cup, but I was not even in the playing XI. I was gone for five or six days mentally."

This was the nadir, the moment the chosen one realised he was, once again, the forgotten one. But as the world would soon learn, when the hands of men turn away, the hands of Gods begin their work.

THE GOD OF CRICKET

It was during the November 2025 series in Australia, as Samson sat on the boundary ropes watching Jitesh Sharma take the middle-order role, that he reached out to the ultimate authority.

The God of Cricket – Sachin Tendulkar.

The depth of this mentorship is best illustrated by its timing. This past week, while India navigated the high-stakes pressure of a World Cup semi-final and final, the Tendulkar household was occupied by a milestone of a different kind: his son’s wedding. Yet, even as the house hummed with festivities and global dignitaries, the Master Blaster made time for the boy from Kerala.

Tendulkar spoke to Samson on the eve of the final. It was not a call about elbow position or bat speed; it was an infusion of clarity. Having faced the weight of a nation for 24 years, Tendulkar helped Samson develop a game sense that allowed him to stop chasing the game and let the game come to him.

"I have been in constant touch with Sachin Tendulkar sir," Samson revealed after the final. "Even yesterday, he called me up to check how I was feeling. Getting guidance from someone like him—what more can I ask for? That clarity, that game awareness... he helped me develop it."

To have the God of Cricket step away from his son’s wedding festivities to steady a young man’s nerves is a testament to the divine backing Samson had finally secured.

THE DESTINY

While Tendulkar worked on the spirit, a tactical crisis was brewing that would eventually force the Hand of God into the Indian team sheet. India had entered the World Cup with a left-heavy top three: Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan opening, with Tilak Varma at three. It was a left-handed parade that opposition captains feasted upon, using off-spinners in the Powerplay to stifle the scoring.

The deadlock became Sanju’s destiny. The management realised they needed a right-handed stabiliser to break the spin-trap. The left-left-left experiment was abandoned, and Samson was summoned to open with Abhishek, shifting Ishan to No. 3.

The leadership group provided the psychological scaffolding for this return. Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, recalled Samson’s raw, vulnerable plea: "Just tell me what you want from me." SKY’s answer was a mandate for violence: "We want the same Sanju Samson we've seen tear attacks apart."

Gautam Gambhir, a man not prone to hyperbole, remained a steadfast believer even when the public had moved on. "We always knew that whenever we needed him in a World Cup game, he would deliver," Gambhir noted. For the management, Samson was not just a tactical substitute; he was a world-class player who had been given the necessary break to escape the pressure cooker.

THE HUMAN HAND

Perhaps the most human hand in this story belonged to his wife, Charulatha. In a rare admission for an elite sportsman, Samson confessed that after the heartbreak of the New Zealand series, he was not 100 per cent. He felt negative and broke.

Fearing the isolation of the reserve life, he asked Charulatha to travel with him throughout the World Cup. He did not want a coach; he wanted a sanctuary.

"I knew I was not going to be part of the team initially," Samson said. "I asked her to be with me because I was not at my best self. When my wife is with me, I am always a bit more positive, always laughing and smiling."

This domestic peace, combined with what Samson calls the power of prayer, created a mental fortress. He spoke of the genuine people praying for him—a collective energy from the backwaters of Kerala to the diaspora in the Gulf—that he believed cannot go to waste.

SPARK BACK IN DELHI

The internal reconstruction of Sanju Samson reached a pivotal moment in the capital. Ahead of the game against Namibia in Delhi, the atmosphere in the Indian camp was light. The players were enjoying the training session, sharing laughs and the camaraderie of a winning squad. But amidst the fun, Samson was a man apart.

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was another big hand in Samson’s revival. Kotak spent extra time with him throughout the tournament, but it was that day in Delhi where the shift became tangible. After a grueling session, a hug between Kotak and Samson spoke volumes, a silent acknowledgement that the desperation had been replaced by focus.

"I was gone for five or six days, and then I started rebuilding myself," Samson recalled at the India Today Conclave. In Delhi, that rebuilding took shape.

BIG KNOCKS IN BIG GAMES

When the opportunity finally arrived, Samson did not just knock on the door; he blew it off the hinges with a sequence of innings that redefined his career.

The revival began in a must-win game against Zimbabwe in Chennai. Batting in his new IPL home, Samson struck a crisp 24 off 15 balls. It was a modest score on paper, but it was the key that unlocked the Indian batting unit.

By neutralising the early spin threat, he allowed the rest of the order to breathe. It was the spark that turned into a wildfire.

In the Super 8s against the West Indies, the world witnessed the Virat-esque evolution Samson had worked on. Chasing a steep 196, Samson produced a masterpiece of controlled aggression. His unbeaten 97 was a masterclass in pacing a chase, knowing when to hit and when to hunker down. It was a showcase of Samson’s maturity and a statement of intent from the Indian team as they marched into the semi-final.

In the big semi-final in Mumbai, Sanju Samson made another statement, smashing Jofra Archer into the stands. It was not a favourable match-up for Samson, but the fearless Indian opener took the England pacer on, neutralising the opposition attack with brutality. Samson scored 89 as India posted 253, which proved just enough for them to win by 7 runs.

Finally, in the grand final in Ahmedabad, Samson showed the way. Batting first, he led India’s fearless approach with a commanding 46-ball 89 as they piled up a record 255, setting the tone with a knock defined by clarity, courage and big-match authority.

Three 80-plus scores, one in each of the big games. Samson won the Player of the Tournament award—a moment he confessed had been a childhood dream, something he murmured in all those prayers over the years: to be the man for the team on the biggest stage. And there he was with the winner’s medal and the Player of the Tournament trophy. All those years of warming the benches were forgotten when the big moment came.

THE SMILE IS BACK

Ahmedabad marked the climax of the chosen one’s arc, a gold medal finally hanging around his neck. Yet the true measure of Sanju Samson revealed itself 48 hours later.

There were no exotic locations, no glitzy after-parties, and no celebrity endorsements. Instead, Samson returned to Thiruvananthapuram to meet his parents—the ones who first handed him a bat. Then, he did something that only a man truly at peace with himself would do. He gathered the boys he started playing cricket with, piled into a vehicle, and drove all the way to Calicut.

The World Cup hero was spotted in ordinary roadside tea shops, sipping a chaya with his childhood friends. In a sport often obsessed with exotic locations and brand building, Samson chose the familiarity of the road and the company of those who knew him before the 50-foot cutouts were ever built.

"God had different plans," Samson mused, reflecting on a journey that saw him broken in January and anointed in March. It was a plan executed by many hands: a legend’s phone call amidst a wedding, a wife’s smile in a hotel room, a coach’s tactical pivot, and a community’s prayers.

Sanju Samson did not just win a World Cup; he survived the trial of his own talent. And as he sat in that tea shop in Calicut, far from the bright lights of Ahmedabad, it was clear that the Hands of God had not just given him a trophy, they had finally given him his smile back.

- Ends

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