T20 World Cup, India vs West Indies: Sanju Samson has got the success he deserves: Gavaskar

'Everyone who knows what a fine player he has been. He has had ups and downs, and we have felt them too because he is such a nice guy.'

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar hailed Sanju Samson after his match-winning knock powered India to a five-wicket victory in the must-win match against West Indies in the T20 World Cup in Kolkata on Sunday.

Samson's majestic knock of 97 from 50 balls single-handedly guided India to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, where they will take on England in Mumbai on March 5, 2026.

Chasing 196 for victory, India found themselves in a spot of bother as Abhishek Sharma (10), Ishan Kishan (10) and Suryakumar Yadav (18) perished cheaply.

Samson brought India back on track as he put on 42 from 26 balls for the fourth wicket with Tilak Varma, who stroked a quickfire 27 from 15 balls, while also putting up vital stands with Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube in the closing stages.

Fitting, Samson hitting the winning runs -- hitting Romario Shepherd for a boundary over mid-on in the final over.

Everybody wants Sanju to do well: Gavaskar

'This knock of 97 not out takes the weight off not just Sanju Samson’s shoulders, but everyone who knows what a fine player he has been. He has had ups and downs, and we have felt them too because he is such a nice guy. Everybody wants him to do well. All Indian cricket fans will be happy that this sincere cricketer has got the success he deserves. To be the Man of the Match in a must-win game is a dream come true,' Gavaskar said on Star Sports' show Amul Cricket Live.

'You could see the emotions on Sanju's face after he hit the winning runs. He was three runs short of a hundred and it would have been fantastic had he reached the three-figure mark. But maybe another hundred is on the way in some other match. It was not an easy target to chase down, but this set of players didn't give up and they pulled off the unbelievable,' the legend added.

Gavaskar praised the Indian batters for rotating strike in the middle overs, which proved instrumental in the big run chase against the West Indies.

'Having a set batter at one end is very beneficial. The other batter can look to knock singles and give more strike to the set batter. That way, there are not too many dot balls. In T20 cricket, the idea is to have as few dot balls as possible. I think the Indian team has realised that. If you look at the teams with the lowest percentage of dot balls, India are pretty high up there. I am not saying they are the best, but they are up there. That is where half the battle is won. Out of 120 deliveries, if you score runs off 80 to 85 balls, you give yourself a real chance to chase scores like 190 to 200 and India did exactly that against the West Indies.'

'It has been a rollercoaster ride for Sanju Samson'

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said Samson had to fight for his place in the team. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter was shifted to the middle order in the Asia Cup last year to accommodate Shubman Gill but failed to make much of an impact. Resorted as the opener and facing competition from Ishan Kishan, he then struggled for runs in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand before he stormed back with a memorable knock against West Indies.

'It was an unbelievable innings by Sanju Samson. It has been a rollercoaster ride for him in the last couple of years. He got those centuries in South Africa after scoring so many runs there, then got demoted to number five. We watched him in Australia. He was out of sorts because that was not his natural position. From there, he fought his way back into the Indian side and found a place in the T20 World Cup squad. 

'Then Ishan Kishan replaced him. He was looking for a spot again. He got just one game in the group stage against Namibia, then finally got a go against Zimbabwe. He got some runs and then he did this. A special innings of 97 runs. He played very differently from how he has played in the past. It was very measured, controlled and aggressive.'

• T20 World Cup 2026