Gautam Gambhir has revealed that the decision to reintroduce Sanju Samson into the Indian squad midway through the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was purely due to the team’s aggressive batting philosophy.
The India head coach said the move was not to counter any specific bowling but to add more firepower at the top order as part of the attacking approach the team has developed over the past 18 months.
Focus on explosive shots
Gambhir dismissed speculation that Samson was brought in to break up the order with a series of left-handed batsmen. Instead, he emphasized the team’s front office’s desire to have a more explosive start on the power play.
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“A lot of people might say we want to break the three left-handers at the top, but that’s not the reason at all. The ideology over the last year and a half has been to go out and be as explosive as possible,” Gambhir said while speaking on JioStar.
“It’s not about managing the spinners at the other end. A good batsman should be able to handle any type of bowler. The idea is if we can add more aggression in the first six overs.”
Samson’s ability to change games quickly
Gambhir highlighted Samson’s natural attacking ability, saying the wicketkeeper-batsman can completely change the course of the game in the powerplay. “We know what Sanju can do. His talent and explosiveness are unquestionable. If he keeps going, he can win the fight within the first six rounds.”
The coach also pointed to the depth of India’s batting line-up, which makes the top order even more dangerous. “Imagine your top three are Abhishek, Sanju and Ishan, then Surya, Hardik, Tilak, Shivam and Axar. You really can’t ask for more.”
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Casual conversation with Samson
Gambhir also shared how Samson got the news about his return to the team and revealed that the conversation happened by chance during a gym session ahead of India’s match against Zimbabwe.
“I conveyed that to him in the gym. In fact, we were all training together and I just told him you’re going to play against Zimbabwe and he said, ‘Let it come.’ It was just a casual conversation between us. It’s not like a manager-player relationship. Most of our one-on-one conversations have been during practice,” he pointed out.
Gambhir also spoke of supporting young opener Abhishek Sharma despite his slow start in the tournament, urging him to remain fearless and focus on his approach rather than scrutinizing his scores.
“I had a worse experience than him during the 2014 IPL when I took three ducks in a row and then another in the fourth game. What I told him is that people will look at your scores and will talk about your form, but actually you are not out of form, you just make runs,” Gambhir said.
He further explained that a player can only be judged after spending enough time in the crease, saying: “The only time you can judge your form is when you have played 20 to 30 balls in the middle and he hasn’t faced 20 balls yet. I hope he comes on in the next game and is more aggressive than he was in the last game.”
Encouraging the youngster to keep an attacking mindset, Gambhir added: “If you want to bat the first ball, just do it and give it 100 per cent because what the world thinks of you does not matter. What matters is what 30 people in the dressing room think of you and that’s what should matter to all the boys. Abhishek has no doubt. To be honest with anyone, in the dressing room, we always have faith and trust in everyone who is selected to represent the country in the T20 World Cup.”