Gavaskar hails Samson’s match-winning knock against West Indies

Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 in Kolkata against the West Indies propelled India into the T20 World Cup semifinal. Sunil Gavaskar, speaking on Star Sports, lauded Samson’s resilience and sincerity, noting that his performance lifted the spirits of fans and teammates alike.

Hyderabad: “This knock of 97 not out takes the weight off not just Sanju Samson’s shoulders, but off everyone who knows what a fine player he has been,” said Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports’ ‘Amul Cricket Live’.

“Sanju has had ups and downs, and we have felt them too because he is such a nice guy. Everybody wants him to do well. All Indian cricket fans will be happy that this sincere cricketer has got the success he deserves,” JioStar expert Gavaskar said on the India opener’s match-winning knock in Kolkata against the West Indies which helped India enter the semifinal of the T20 World Cup.

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“To be the Man of the Match in a must-win game is a dream come true. You could see the emotions on Sanju’s face after he hit the winning runs. He was three runs short of a hundred and it would have been fantastic had he reached the three-figure mark,” Gavaskar said.

“But maybe another hundred is on the way in some other match. It was not an easy target to chase down, but this set of players didn’t give up and they pulled off the unbelievable,” he said.

“Having a set batter at one end is very beneficial. The other batter can look to knock singles and give more strikes to the set batter. That way, there are not too many dot balls,” Gavaskar said.

“In T20 cricket, the idea is to have as few dot balls as possible. I think the Indian team has realised that. If you look at the teams with the lowest percentage of dot balls, India are pretty high up there. I am not saying they are the best, but they are up there,” he said.

“That is where half the battle is won. Out of 120 deliveries, if you score runs off 80 to 85 balls, you give yourself a real chance to chase scores like 190 to 200 and India did exactly that against the West Indies,” he said.