Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie heaped praise on Sanju Samson after India won the T20 World Cup for the third time, by beating New Zealand by 96 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The Kerala batter returned with scores of 97(50), 89(42), and 89(46) in the virtual quarterfinals, semifinal and final of the tournament, respectively. The right-hander was awarded Player of the tournament after he scored 321 runs in five matches at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.38.
The flamboyant batter was at his best in the summit clash against the Kiwis and played a key role in getting India to 255. Gillespie, however, expressed his surprise that Samson has played only 16 ODIs for India.
Gillespie said on Fast Bowling Cartel, “He ended up being the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament. He came home with a wet sail at the backend of the tournament. It surprises me how few ODIs he has played for India. But he deserves a lot of credit for what he did.”
On the other hand, legendary Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath praised Samson for his calm personality on and off the field.
“The thing I like about Sanju Samson is how relaxed he is. His expression never changes. He looks like he’s too cool. He is a bit of a Mark Waugh kind of character. I would say he is between a Mark Waugh and a Damien Martyn,” said McGrath.
Gillespie feels the 76-run loss against South Africa was a blessing in disguise for India in the Super 8 stage of the tournament.
“They didn’t even need Suryakumar Yadav in the final, which shows what a team effort it was. It was South Africa’s tournament until the semifinal. That banana skin game India had refocused them and reminded them not to get too up and about. It was a reality check and wasn’t a bad thing from India’s perspective,” said Gillespie (via the aforementioned source).
India came up with a collective effort after suffering a loss against the Proteas and were able to go all the way.
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