Ahmedabad, March 7 -- India captain Suryakumar Yadav praised the inclusion of Sanju Samson in the playing XI, saying it was a crucial decision that changed the course of games for the team.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand, Suryakumar highlighted the importance of Samson's contributions.

"According to me, it was important to bring Sanju's inclusion because we saw that the combinations that we were playing in the last bilateral series, like Abhishek, Sanju and Ishan were batting in the top 3, so how much did we benefit from that? So, as soon as we brought him, the direction of the game changed completely," Suryakumar said.

Samson has been in ominous form in the ...