T20 World Cup 2026: Why Sanju Samson won Player of the Tournament? - Records & Stats Explained

India annihilated New Zealand in the summit clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, March 8. The home team won the final by a huge 96-run margin and became the first team to win the trophy thrice.

Sanju Samson, the opener, played a huge role in the triumph. To begin with, the right-hand batter did not find a place in the XI for the team's first match against the USA. The 31-year-old, however, was brought in for the next game against Namibia in Delhi as Abhishek Sharma was out due to illness. As had been the case with Samson in the recent past, the batter was out for a not-so-impactful score. He managed to get a start, but failed to convert the 22 into a big score once again.

With Abhishek back for the high-voltage Pakistan game, Samson was left out. The wicket-keeper could not get a chance for the team's next two matches against the Netherlands and South Africa as India found themselves in a precarious situation at the start of the Super Eights.

The team changed its strategy and added one more batter which afforded Samson another opportunity to do justice to his talent. The right-hander, however, went through the same old routine in the next game - score a just-about decent score and get out. In his comeback game against Zimbabwe, Samson scored a 24 before going back to the pavilion with loads of questions and, perhaps, doubts in his mind.

With Abhishek being out of touch, India persisted with the same strategy and Samson got another chance. But, this time the Trivandrum-born made the most of it as he smashed his way to an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls against the West Indies in a virtual quarter-final. Without his timely innings, it might have become tricky for India to chase down 196 runs in a pressure game.

With a confidence-boosting innings in his pocket now, Samson did not look back. The right-hand opener carried on with the same flair in the semi-final against England, scoring 89 runs off 42 balls helping India post a 254-run target which the team narrowly defended.

There were high hopes from the Kerala star batter in the final as well and Samson did not disappoint again. The batter formed a critical 98-run partnership with Abhishek Sharma who finally regained his usual form. Moreover, Samson built another game-changing partnership (105 off 48) with Ishan Kishan to put India in the driver's seat by the 15th over. The right-hander scored 89 runs again in quick time as India posted 255/5 which proved to be insurmountable for New Zealand.

Samson, for his three impactful innings in three must-win matches for India, influenced the jury to declare him as the Player of the Tournament. The batter finished as the third-highest run-scorer with 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37. Moreover, Samson emerged as the batter who struck the most sixes (24) in this edition of the T20 World Cup as well.