Sanju Samson has been in the form of his life since being recalled to the playing XI in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. After playing against Namibia, he was dropped following Abhishek Sharma’s recovery from a stomach infection. However, the failures of the southpaw forced the team management to recall Samson for the Super 8 match against Zimbabwe. Although he didn’t score big in the game, he looked in fine touch.
After two match-winning innings in the must-win match against the West Indies and the semi-final against England, he didn’t stop in the final against New Zealand, amassing a half-century, his third consecutive in the event.
The veteran managed 89 runs off 46, including 5 fours and 8 sixes. He and Abhishek added 98 runs for the opening wicket, with the latter accumulating 52 runs off 21 deliveries, laced with 6 boundaries and 3 maximums.
Earlier, the New Zealand captain, Mitchell Santner, won the toss and elected to bowl first with the hope of restricting India.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (captain), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy