"Gautam Gambhir Fought Everyone": Shoaib Akhtar Credits India Coach For Sanju Samson's T20 World Cup Heroics

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has credited India head coach Gautam Gambhir for Sanju Samson's 'purple patch' with the bat in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Brought back into the team for the virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies, Samson delivered a knockout blow to the Windies, smashing a brilliant 97 in a high-pressure chase. He followed it up with a quickfire 89 off 42 balls in the semi-final as India beat England to set up a final clash with New Zealand.

During a discussion on the 'Game On Hai' show on PTV Sports, Akhtar noted that Samson's selection wouldn't have been possible if Gambhir hadn't fought for the player's inclusion with the team management.

"Samson has been in the Indian cricket circuit since 2014. Back in the days when I was working in India, around 2015, there was a lot of hype surrounding him. He had to wait for a long time to get regular chances as India had wicketkeepers like MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and others. Even now, Gambhir has fought with everyone to get him into the team. Basically, his selection has been done forcefully and after a lot scrutiny. He didn't feature in the tournament initially," said Akhtar in a video shared by Tapmad.

In this tournament, Samson has made 232 runs in four matches at an average of 77.33, with a strike rate of 201.73, with two fifties, and a best score of 97* coming against West Indies at Kolkata in a virtual quarterfinal.

After his knock of 89 against England, he equalled batting icon Virat Kohli's record for most runs by an Indian in a T20 World Cup knockout clash. Virat had also smashed 89* in 47 balls against the West Indies in the semifinal of the 2016 T20 World Cup at the same venue.

Samson, with his 16 maximums this edition, went past Rohit Sharma's 15 sixes in the 2024 edition to have the most sixes by an Indian during a single T20 World Cup edition.

(With ANI Inputs)

Click here to read article