"Did Not Match Expectations": Sanju Samson's Honest Verdict On Not Playing Single World Cup

India's wicketkeeper-batter and T20I opener, Sanju Samson, has opened up about not playing in any World Cup so far. The player has the experience of featuring in over 50 T20Is and 16 ODIs, but he has not played the mega event in any of the formats. Samson was picked in India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, but he failed to get a game. He has been named in the team once again as the country gears up to defend its title.

"10 years of lots and lots of failures, a few successes here and there. It has always been to understand what it takes to be a World Cup cricketer for an Indian team, and how badly I want it. Talking about the 2024 World Cup, I didn't play a game. Yes, things were a bit up and down, to be very honest, but it did not match the expectations I had set. Still, I was grateful that I made it into the 15," Samson said in a video uploaded by the BCCI.

Samson is a player who has been in and out of the team quite often, with consistency being his biggest problem in the past. Things changed drastically for the wicketkeeper-batter once he started opening for India in T20Is. He has scored three hundreds in just 19 innings in the role.

Despite this, Samson was pushed down the order last year and was eventually dropped as India included Shubman Gill as an opener alongside Abhishek Sharma. Gill's poor returns in the format saw him being snubbed for the T20 World Cup 2026, with Samson reinstated as an opener.

"My journey is so special. You never know when you will get the opportunity to play. Definitely a lot of ups and downs keep hapenning according to this (T20I) format, I think we just have to keep pushing. It's very hard not to look at an outside noise when you are playing cricket in India and for national team, but I made my bubble, I made my people around me. I kept on focusing on all the little things and I knew that my time would come. With God's grace it actually happened and out of nowhere I started opening. I did something special which brought me into the Indian opening role," Samson said.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket Sanju Samson India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team India vs New Zealand 2026 T20 World Cup 2026