India, March 3 -- 'Samson mania' has taken over the cricketing globe. And why not? After years of drifting under the radar, Sanju Samson has finally delivered on what his talent always promised, with class, precision and a remarkable sense of calm, producing an innings that single-handedly carried India into the semifinals in their Super 8 clash against the West Indies on Sunday. The noise around what is arguably the finest knock of his career has not stopped since.

For a while, it looked like this would be another World Cup where Samson felt surplus to requirements. The last 15 months had been turbulent: a dip in form, a positional shuffle, and eventually being dropped. He had little control over the chaos, only the choice to stay ready...