India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson recently reflected on his decade-long career, admitting that his biggest motivation has always been the urge to represent his country in the World Cup.
Speaking in a video released by the BCCI, Samson said that he was ‘grateful’ to have been selected in India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
“10 years of lots and lots of failures, a few successes here and there. It has always been to understand what it takes to be a World Cup cricketer for an Indian team, and how badly I want it. Talking about the 2024 World Cup, I didn’t play a single game. Yes, things were a bit up and down, to be very honest, but it did not match the expectations I had set. Still, I was grateful that I made it into the 15,” he said.
India won their second T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s leadership in 2024, with the first coming in the inaugural edition in 2007, and finally ended their trophy drought. Rishabh Pant played the role of the wicketkeeper-batter in that World Cup.
However, after the mega tournament, Samson was given the opportunity to open the batting. He grabbed the chance with both hands, smashing three centuries and forming several aggressive opening partnerships with Abhishek Sharma.
In 2024 and 2025, the 31-year-old played 28 T20Is and scored 658 runs. However, Shubman Gill was brought back into the T20I set-up and was named the vice-captain of the side. To accommodate Gill as an opener, Samson was pushed down the order and was eventually left out of the team.
Gill, though, struggled with consistency and was later omitted from the World Cup squad. This has opened up a strong chance for Samson to finally be part of the playing XI in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
However, Samson had a poor start against New Zealand in the first match of the five-match home T20I series, scoring just 10 off seven balls on January 21, 2026.
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