After winning the title, Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir feels that Sanju Samson's knock of 97 runs against the West Indies was the turning point of the hosts' campaign
Gautam Gambhir (Pic: File PIc)
Team India emerged victorious by 96 runs against New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
After winning the title, Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir feels that Sanju Samson's knock of 97 runs against the West Indies was the turning point of the hosts' campaign.
"It is very difficult to say, but I still believe that Sanju's 97 against West Indies was the turning point of this campaign because again, it was a virtual quarter-final and someone making a comeback who did not play four or five matches before the Zimbabwe game. Chasing 195 in a virtual quarter-final, irrespective of whatever the ground is, in a World Cup game, is never easy. With the ease and the calmness that he batted, I think it gave us a lot of confidence in the group that now, probably, we are on the right track," he said.
In the match against the Caribbeans, the Kerala-born cricketer played a knock of an unbeaten 97 runs off 50 balls, including 12 boundaries and four maximums. He continued his rich vein of form in the match against England as well, in which he garnered 89 runs in 42 balls, laced with eight boundaries and seven maximums.
He then stated that things started falling in place after the game against the West Indies.
"Before that, there was a lot of talk that we play very aggressively in the bilaterals but not in the ICC tournaments. After the West Indies game, when Sanju got going and how Ishan Kishan batted at three, I thought that a lot of things actually started taking shape," said Gambhir.
The triumph helped the "Men in Blue" to successfully defend the shortest format world title. With this, India also became the first team to win three T20 World Cup titles.
T20 World Cup 2026: Player of the Tournament
Team India's wicketkeeper-batsman Samson was named as the "Player of the Tournament", and the side's lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the "Player of the Match" for his heroics in the title clash.
Samson scored 89 runs in 46 balls, with the help of five boundaries and eight maximums, whereas Bumrah returned with the figures of four wickets for 15 runs in four overs.
(With ANI Inputs)
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