A few days back, a video of Rohit Sharma’s pep-talk to Sanju Samson had gone viral. In it, the former India T20 captain can be heard telling Samson not to get disheartened and that a chance to play in the Indian team could arrive at any time.
“Kaisa hai? Dukhi mat ho bhai. It is a long tournament, kabhi bhi mauka aa sakta hai. (“Don’t be disheartened. It is a long tournament. You’ll get your chance. The opportunity can come anytime),” Rohit can be heard telling Samson.
The chance did arrive, and Samson grabbed it with both hands, smashing an unbeaten 97 in 50 balls against the West Indies in a must-win Super 8 game for India. Then, he raised the stakes with a match-winning 89-run effort off 42 balls at the Wankhede Stadium to guide India to victory over England in the semis. In today’s final, Samson has scored another half century in just 33 balls before getting out on 89 runs off 46 balls, which is the highest score in a T20 World cup final by an individual batter. With his 50 against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Samson became just the third player—after Shahid Afridi and Virat Kohli—to score a half century in the semis and the final of a T20 World Cup.
Now in another video, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) social media account has spoken to Sharma about why he said those words to Samson when he did.
“I can sometimes feel the pulse of the player. I have myself been in that situation when I’ve been in a tournament like this and my chances haven’t come, it’s important to stay focused and try and do the right things and not get frustrated with you not getting the opportunity, and that’s what I felt with him because he was consistently playing for India and then was dropped just before the World Cup started,” Rohit said in a video released by the ICC.
“I just wanted to tell him that it’s a long tournament and funny things have happened in the past, so I just wanted to reassure him that your chance will come. And it happened in the game where it was a crucial game for India and he played a blinder,” Sharma added.