Surya, Samson and Abhishek reflect on faith, guidance and triumph after India’s T20 World Cup win
India clinched the T20 World Cup title in Ahmedabad, defeating New Zealand in the final. Captain Suryakumar Yadav expressed gratitude to the BCCI, Jay Shah, and Rohit Sharma for trusting him with leadership after the 2024 World Cup. Abhishek Sharma shared his emotional journey of self-doubt and eventual triumph, highlighting the team’s support.
Ahmedabad: Suryakumar Yadav, who led India to T20 World Cup triumph by defeating New Zealand in the final here on Sunday night, expressed gratitude to the BCCI, its former Secretary Jay Shah, former captain Rohit Sharma for the faith they showed in him while handing over the captaincy after the 2024 World Cup.
“It has been a long journey, which started post-2024 World Cup when the BCCI at that time, Jay bhai, Rohit bhai and everyone, they showed faith in me, gave me an opportunity to lead this wonderful side,” a delighted Suryakumar said at the trophy presentation.
“We knew that we were playing some good cricket throughout the two years, and it was going really well. We just wanted to follow all the good habits which we followed in the 2024 T20 World Cup. I told the boys the same thing,” he said.
On Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy, the Indian captain said: “I think it’s really important to understand what they are capable of. And I knew they had the match winners in them. I think the timing was perfect for Sanju to come in.”
“Varun Chakravarthy and Abhishek Sharma, world number one players. We always knew that they had something special. No bigger stage than a final to do something,” he said.
Commenting on Jasprit Bumrah, who had figures of four for 15 in the final, Suryakumar said: ““He is a once-in-a-generation bowler. I can call him a national treasure right now. But he knows what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, the best in the business and hopefully keeps doing that,” the victorious captain said.
Abhishek delighted
For his part, Abhishek Sharma said he wanted to share this before as well but today was the best day to talk about this thing.
“The coach and the captain had faith in me. Even I was doubting myself because it wasn’t an easy tournament for me. I hadn’t experienced [anything like] this before – playing my first World Cup. But everyone was so like, you are going to win one big game, one big game,” he said.
“So, I was doing my process but it was not that easy as a young player, just one or two years in the Indian team and then going through this phase. But I just love this team for the way they treated me in those days; I have never felt this way before.
“It was not that easy for me. Through the whole year, I was doing so well for the team but at the big occasion, I wasn’t able to do well. But the faith and confidence the players and the coaches showed in me… I got emotional in between as well. I wanted to do really well in all the games but I couldn’t. Then I was like, I wanted to talk to the coach or the captain. They always said one thing: ‘You are going to win us the big games.” I just wanted to wait for that day. You cannot ask for a better day than this.”
Samson credits Sachin for his success
Sanju Samson, who has been named ‘player of the tournament,’ thanked legend Sachin Tendulkar for his stunning form in the knock-out phase of this World Cup.
Samson said he felt his dreams had shattered after a poor T20I series against New Zealand prior to this World Cup but conversations over the past two months with Sachin Tendulkar had reassured him that a turnaround wasn’t far away.
“To be honest, there has been a lot of guidance and suggestions from senior players,” Samson said after the magnificent triumph against New Zealand in the final.
“A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me out. From the last couple of months… I hope I can share it here. I’ve been in constant touch with Sachin [Tendulkar] sir. When I was sitting outside in Australia last October. I wasn’t playing a game, I thought about what mindset is required,” he said.
