‘I had a chance to play the final’ – Sanju Samson reflects on snub from playing XI in T20 World Cup

Watch: Sanju Samson reveals last-minute exclusion from T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

Sanju Samson had an impressive outing in the Indian Premier League 2024 for the Rajasthan Royals. He accrued 531 runs in 14 innings at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.47. As a result, he was included in the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2024. But the Kerala batter did not get to play a single game in the tournament.

The wicketkeeper-batter recently went on to score his maiden T20I century with a splendid 111 off just 47 balls against Bangladesh in the third T20I on October 12. The right-handed batter revealed that he was poised to play the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa but was ignored minutes before the toss.

Also Read: I want to play Tests for India: Sanju Samson

“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 journalist Vimal Kumar in an interview.

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🚨🚨 Sanju Samson was all set to play in XI of T2OI WC Final as Rohit had told him the morning of final but at toss Rohit Sharma announced the same XI and in return he got “duck” from Rishabh Pant.

Rohit then talked to Samson after toss for over 10 minutes and apologized. I… pic.twitter.com/lxGa0f7DsB

— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) October 21, 2024

 

Rohit took me to the side and explained his decision: Samson

Though India went on to beat South Africa in the final and lift the second title, it was a conversation during the warm-up drill ahead of the encounter Samson remembered avidly. India’s middle order consisted of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube. The RR captain recalled a conversation with Rohit Sharma where the latter tried reasoning as he unsaddled Samson.

Also Read: Samson confirmed to play for Kerala in Round 2

“During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he is 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,” Samson continued.

“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’,” he added.