T20 World Cup 2026: 8 players in the race for Player of the Tournament, along with Sanju Samson, Pakistani batsman also becomes a contender

T20 World Cup, Player of the tournament nominees: The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has now reached its final stage and with it the discussion about the tournament’s most prestigious individual award ‘Player of the Tournament’ has also intensified. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the names of those eight players who have made it to this race by performing brilliantly throughout the tournament.

The name of the Indian team’s explosive wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson is also included in this list, who caught everyone’s attention with his performance despite getting a late opportunity. Apart from them, players from Pakistan, England, South Africa, New Zealand and America are also in the race for this award.

T20 World Cup: Sanju Samson created a stir with his late entry

Indian opener Sanju Samson did not get a chance in the playing eleven in the initial matches of the tournament. However, when he got a place in the team, he took full advantage of it. Samson played an important role in taking India to the final by playing unbeaten innings of 97 and 89 runs in two consecutive matches.

This wicketkeeper batsman has scored a total of 232 runs in the four matches played so far in the T20 World Cup 2026 at an excellent average of 77.33 and a strike rate of 201.73. His aggressive batting has contributed a lot to the victory of the Indian team.

T20 World Cup: Will Jacques and Sahibzada Farhan also become strong contenders

England all-rounder Will Jacques has also performed strongly throughout the tournament (T20 World Cup 2026). Jacques played an important role in his team winning six out of eight matches and also received the ‘Player of the Match’ award four times. He has scored 226 runs in eight matches and has also taken nine wickets in his name.

Whereas Pakistan’s opening batsman Sahibzada Farhan created history by doing wonders in batting. Farhan holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single edition of the T20 World Cup by scoring 383 runs in six innings. He also scored brilliant centuries against Sri Lanka and Namibia.

T20 World Cup: Ngidi and Markram also showed their strength

South African fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has performed brilliantly in bowling, taking 12 wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 7.19. His sharp bowling brought success to the team on many important occasions. Team captain Aidan Markram has also made important contributions with the bat. Markram has scored 286 runs in eight matches with the help of three half-centuries and has also taken one wicket in bowling.

T20 World Cup: Ravindra, Seifert and Van Schalkwyk also impressed

New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra has performed well with both bat and ball. Along with scoring 128 runs in eight matches, he also took 11 wickets, which gave the team the lead on many important occasions. Even though the US team could not progress beyond the group stage, fast bowler Shadley Van Schalkwyk impressed everyone with his bowling.

He made his mark among the bowlers by taking 13 wickets at an economy rate of 6.80 in just four matches. Apart from this, New Zealand’s wicketkeeper batsman Tim Seifert has also played a big role in taking the team to the finals. He has scored 274 runs in eight matches and has taken the team to a strong position by playing many important innings.