‘I had a chance to play in final…’, says Sanju Samson about T20 World Cup 2024 title clash and his chat with captain Rohit Sharma

Sanju Samson revealed that he was in line to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa earlier this year.

Team India batter and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson revealed that he had a chance to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa earlier this year. Samson’s place in the Indian playing 11 ultimately remained with Rishabh Pant, who ended up being dismissed for a duck in the title clash.

However, Samson, who scored his maiden T20I century against Bangladesh in the third T20 matches earlier this month, was grateful that former India T20 captain Rohit Sharma explained the reasons for not selecting him for the final personally to him.

“I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. However, they decided before the toss that we would go with the same team. I was like, no worries. I was in that type of mood,” Samson told Firstpost website.

Sanju Samson is literally awestruck by the leadership qualities of Rohit Sharma and he said I will never ever forget this incident in my entire life.❤️ pic.twitter.com/ep5E4AUzzV

— (@jod_insane) October 21, 2024

After India decided to play with the same playing 11 as the semifinal, Rohit spent a good amount of time with Samson explaining the decision.

“During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he was making that decision. He was like, ‘You understood, na?’ You know his way, very casual? I told him, ‘Let us win the match and then talk’. You focus on the match.”

He later said, “He came back one minute later and said, ‘I know you are cursing me in your mind’. I think you are not happy. I feel like you have something on your mind. Then we had a discussion. I told him, ‘As a player, I want to play’.”

The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter even informed Rohit that he didn’t want to let go of the opportunity to not feature in a final under his captaincy. This is a regret he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

“Since childhood, I wanted to come here and do something. Then he was like, ‘My pattern is like this’ and all that. I said I totally respect that you came and explained me. I said, ‘I will have a regret; I could not play a World Cup final with a leader like you’. This will be a regret in my heart that I missed a World Cup final with a leader like Rohit Sharma. That will stay in my life.”

But Rohit’s decision to spend so much time before a big final with player who isn’t even part of playing 11, really touched Samson.

“After this, I thought, such a big thing like a World Cup final. Before the final, you have changed your decision. You spent 10 minutes with the player that is not playing just before the toss. He gave me 10 minutes before the toss. After that, I got to know this person has some other qualities. If I were in their place, I would be thinking about the players who are playing or my batting. I will explain to Sanju later; that is what normally you think. At that point, he thought ‘I have to explain to Sanju, why I took that decision.’ At that point, he won a place in my heart that will stay for a lifetime,” he added.

Samson also lavished praise on India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir for showing constant support and backing. “I agree that the relationship between a coach and a player is very important. The coach trusts in your ability and you want to repay that trust by performing well for your team. In Hyderabad, I was determined and desperately wanted to show Gauti bhai that if you are backing me and giving me the chances, I won’t disappoint you. In the Bangladesh T20I series, I didn’t score big in the first couple of matches and I was a bit hesitant to make eye contact with him but I told myself that apna time aayega (my time will come). So when I got that hundred in Hyderabad and the coach was clapping, I was delighted,” Samson said.