'I’ve seen around 100 games and I’ve seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game.'
India reached the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over West Indies in Sunday's decisive Super Eights match, as Sanju Samson's unbeaten knock of 97 helped them chase down a target of 196 with four balls to spare.
Defending champions India, who will play in the semis for the third straight time, will face England in Mumbai on Thursday, a day after South Africa take on New Zealand in the first semi-final.
Put in to bat first at Eden Gardens, West Indies posted 195-4, as Rovman Powell and Jason Holder added 76 runs off the last 35 balls in their unbeaten partnership.
India made a shaky start with Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan falling in the first five overs, but opener Samson hit four sixes and 12 fours to help India reach 199-5, pulling off the highest successful run chase in this T20 World Cup.
'This means the whole world to me'
Player of the Match, Samson said the innings was what he was waiting for.
'It means the whole world actually to me. I think right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, I think this is the day I was waiting for. And I’m very grateful, very thankful.' he said at the post-match presentation.
Speaking of battling his demons, Samson added: 'And I’ve always had a very special journey with lots of ups and downs, but I’ve 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’m very happy.
'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 to, I think with my experience, I have only played maybe 50, 60 games, but I’ve seen around 100 games and I’ve seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game, ' he added.
'I was just focussing on my role'
'But I think on the other end, there is always a question, what if not? So definitely that keeps on playing in your mind. But when that thought kept on coming, 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.'
Samson says he was just focussing on his role even as wickets fell at the other end.
'So I think the 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. So I think I wanted to build a partnership, wanted to keep focusing on my process.
'And I never felt that I will do something special like this, but I was just focusing on my role and just keeping one ball at a time and very grateful. I think this is one of the greatest days of my life,' he added.
© 2026