Sanju Samson played a blistering knock of 89 runs off 42 balls in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Despite losing opening partner Abhishek Sharma early, the Kerala batter didn’t change his template and went all guns blazing, setting the tone of the match. He was also lucky, being dropped by Harry Brook when he was 16, as Samson took advantage of that and launched a scathing attack on the Three Lions.
During his innings, Sanju Samson smacked seven sixes, taking his tally to 16 maximums in the ongoing T20 World Cup. With that, he broke Rohit Sharma’s record of being the Indian player with the most sixes in a single edition of the global tournament. The former India captain smacked 15 in the 2024 edition of the competition, which now stands behind Samson. Meanwhile, Shivam Dube has also hit 15 sixes in this edition and can break Rohit’s tally in the final against New Zealand on March 8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Most sixes by an Indian in single edition of T20 World Cup
| Player | Sixes | Year |
| Sanju Samson | 16* | 2026 |
| Rohit Sharma | 15 | 2024 |
| Shivam Dube | 15* | 2026 |
| Ishan Kishan | 14* | 2026 |
| Hardik Pandya | 14* | 2026 |
Had to respect the game, work on my basics: Samson
Sanju Samson had a topsy-turvy 2026. He was picked ahead of Shubman Gill in the T20 World Cup squad but the cricketer failed to live up to the expectations in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The Kerala batter was eventually dropped from the playing XI. However, India made a tactical change in the middle of the T20 World Cup, allowing Samson to open again and that’s when he showed his class, scoring 97* and 89 in successive knocks.
Speaking about his comeback, Samson reflected on the challenging days and noted that he tried too hard in the New Zealand series to seal his spot but all he had to do was respect the game and work on his basics.
“I think that was very challenging for me. I think I definitely wanted to come and do what I am trying to do now for the country, contribute, and win games in the World Cup. But I think I was trying a bit too much in the New Zealand series, I wanted to make an impact and get into the 11 of the World Cup here. But I think you know this format, I think this cricket can get very funny, Even the best in the world actually struggle to score runs in this format. So I think I had to respect the game. I had to come back to my basics, work a bit more from my basics,” Samson said.
