Sanju Samson Reflects on Missing T20 World Cup Final: “I Had a Chance to Play”

Sanju Samson had an impressive performance in the Indian Premier League 2024 season, where he captained Rajasthan Royals, leading the team to the Qualifiers. He was able to score 531 runs in 14 innings for the team at an average of 48.27 and maintain a strike rate of 153.47.

Due to this reason, he was picked for the Indian squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held just after the IPL. Unfortunately, Sanju Samson did not receive the opportunity to play even a single game throughout the tournament. He recently scored his first century in the T20I format against Bangladesh in the third match, by scoring 111 runs in 47 balls.

Talking about the T20 World Cup, Sanju Samson revealed that he got the opportunity to play the finals but missed it, saying that,

I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. However, they decided before the toss that we would go with the same team. I was like, no worries. I was in that type of mood.

He told journalist Vimal Kumar in an interview.

Rohit Explains the Decision to Sanju

India went on to win the T20 World Cup match against South Africa, where the middle order consisted of players like Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube. Sanju Samson had a warm-up session with the team when Rohit Sharma came up to him, to which he said,

During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he is making that decision. He was like, You understood, na? You know his way, very casual? I told him, “Let us win the match and then talk.” You focus on the match.

Samson continued by saying that Rohit Sharma returned within a minute, saying that,

He came back one minute later and said, “I know you are cursing me in your mind.” I think you are not happy. I feel like you have something on your mind. Then we had a discussion. I told him, “As a player, I want to play”.