ICC announces names of players nominated for Player of the Tournament, one Indian player also included

T20 World Cup 2026: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the list of eight nominated players for the Player of the Tournament award for the T20 World Cup 2026 on 6 March 2026. India’s Sanju Samson is the only Indian player in this list. This award is given to the player who performs best in the tournament.

Great performance by Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson was not initially in the playing eleven of the team, but later after returning to the team, he did wonders. He scored 232 runs in just four matches. The average of 77.33 and strike rate of 201.73 was excellent. In the Super Eight against West Indies, he scored an unbeaten 97 runs (on 50 balls), which was a match-winning inning. Then in the semi-finals against England, he gave a strong start to India by scoring 89 runs in 42 balls.

He was chosen Player of the Match in these two consecutive matches. Samson can now become the second Indian to win this award, as Virat Kohli had earlier won this honor in 2014 and 2016.

Other seven named players

The remaining seven players included in the list are as follows:

1. Will Jacques (England) – All-rounder, who contributed with both bat and ball.
2. Sahibzada Farhan (Pakistan) – opening batsman, who scored the most runs (383) in the tournament and scored two centuries, although Pakistan could not reach the semi-finals.
3. Lungi Ngidi (South Africa) – Fast bowler, successful in taking wickets.
4. Aiden Markram (South Africa) – Captain and batsman, plays an important role in the team’s performance.
5. Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) – All-rounder, key player of the team that reached the final.
6. Tim Seifert (New Zealand) – Batsman and wicketkeeper, chance of better performance in the final.
7. Shadley Van Schalkwyk (USA) – Bowler, who took 13 wickets in just four matches. America was eliminated in the group stage, but their performance was remarkable. He is among the top wicket takers of the tournament.

Winner decided after the final

This list is based on the performance of the tournament so far. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert are playing in the final, so they have a chance to further improve their performance. At the same time, Sahibzada Farhan is the highest run scorer, but the team’s defeat affected his chances.

It is a matter of pride for Indian fans to be nominated for Sanju Samson. If India wins the final and Samson plays well, he can win this award. This tournament is still going on and the winner will be decided after the finals.