New Delhi, March 8 -- Sanju Samson has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in the latter half of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 tournament. The Kerala batter wasn't even preferred in India's playing XI for the first few matches, but a stomach bug for Abhishek Sharma meant that Samson got to play in the group stage match against Namibia.

He scored just 22 runs in that match on 12 February, and endured another mediocre outing of 24 runs against Zimbabwe two weeks later. The 31-year-old's big moment, however, came in the must-win Super 8 match against West Indies.

He scored an unbeaten 97 from 50 balls to guide India to the semi-finals, and carried on his positive run in the semi-finals against England, scoring 89 runs from 42 balls.

Samson's...