"Switched off my phone, social media": Samson on overcoming his lean patch with match-winning 97* against West Indies

Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, helping India chase down a competitive 196-run target to guide Suryakumar Yadav's side to a five-wicket win in a must-win clash of the ongoing World Cup, at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.

Notably, Samson had endured a string of low scores ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. In the five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home, Samson managed just 46 runs across five-innings and was subsequently dropped from India's playing 11 of the India vs USA T20 WC match. He also didn't feature in the matches against Pakistan, Netherlands and South Africa. He was included for the match against Zimbabwe where he scored a 15-ball 24 and then played the match-winning innings of 97 runs against West Indies.

Speaking on JioHotstar, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter touched upon his lean patch and the changes he made to his technique. Samson said he battled negative thoughts during his lean patch but made a conscious effort to stay positive. Samson said that after a disappointing series against New Zealand, he used a 10-day break to reflect and work on his basics, especially his stance and setup.

"Our human nature is that we often start from a negative thought like, 'Can I do it? I don't think I can.' When I have that thought, I try to alter it with a very positive one. When I had a series like New Zealand where I wanted to perform and be part of the World Cup team, things did not work out well, but luckily I got a 10-day gap. I did not play any games and was not in the side. I kept thinking, 'Sanju, what else? Why didn't it work? What else should I do?' So I did some soul-searching. I worked on my base, how I set myself up, and came back to it," Sanju Samson said.

Samson said that he switched off his phone and his social media and listened to his own self to help himself overcome the slump in form.

"A lot of people had suggestions and I saw a lot of valid points, but at the same time I felt, 'Sanju, you have scored three international hundreds with the same setup.' Shot selection was something I kept working on. I did not want to change too much because I knew I had performed with the same setup, so I kept believing in myself, switched off my phone, switched off social media and listened to my own self. I am very happy it happened in a very special game," he added.

Samson said that the Kolkata innings was a dream come true for him, adding that many young cricketers in India aspire to play for the country and win big matches. He said that as a youngster from Trivandrum, he dared to dream of such a moment and was proud that it became reality in a crucial game.

"More than a hundred cricketers in India dream about a day like this. I dared to dream. A young guy from Trivandrum, Kerala, dreaming about playing for the country and winning a game in such a crucial match. I dared to dream and it happened," Samson said.

Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to field first. Roston Chase (40 in 25 balls, with five fours and a six) and skipper Shai Hope (32 in 33 balls, with three fours and a six) put on an opening stand of 68 runs for first wicket, but WI slipped to 119/4 in 14.1 overs, despite a fiery cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (27 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes).

It was the pair of Jason Holder (37* in 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Powell (34* in 19 balls, with three fours and two sixes) who put on a fiery stand of 76 runs in 35 balls, taking WI to 195/4 in 20 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah (2/36 in four overs) was India's leading bowler, with Varun Chakaravarthy and Hardik Pandya dropping a spell of 1/40 in four overs each.

In the run-chase, India was reduced to 41/2 within the powerplay. It was a 58-run stand between Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (18), which brought the chase back on track. Then Sanju went on to stitch partnerships with Tilak Varma (27 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dube (8*), taking India to a five-wicket win. (ANI)