Anil Kumble Hails Sanju Samson as a Mix of Kohli and Rohit After T20 WC 2026

Anil Kumble praised Sanju Samson after the T20 World Cup 2026 final, saying the Indian batter shows qualities of both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his approach.

Former India captain Anil Kumble praised Sanju Samson after the T20 World Cup 2026 win. He said Sanju Samson’s batting shows qualities seen in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batter played a major role in India’s title win. Samson received the Player of the Tournament award after scoring 3 successive half-centuries.

In the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8, Samson scored 89 from 46 balls against New Zealand. His innings included 5 fours and 8 sixes.

Kumble highlighted Samson’s balanced approach. He noted that Samson builds innings carefully, like Kohli and accelerates aggressively during the Powerplay, similar to Rohit Sharma.

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“If you look at the previous World Cup in 2024, it had Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both are great players, very difficult to replace them. I think Samson is a combination of Kohli and Rohit, in a sense. When it required a little bit of Kohli, where you just plan and ensure that you don’t lose wickets. And then whenever you need to accelerate, in the powerplay, you want to take on the bowlers [like Rohit],” Kumble said to ESPNcricinfo.

Faf du Plessis Praises Sanju Samson’s Consistency

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis also praised Sanju Samson after his performances in the T20 World Cup 2026. He noted that Sanju maintained the same approach in every match.

“What you can see is a guy that is in form and really true to the way that he wants to play. It looks like I am watching the previous innings again. It’s just the game plan on display,” du Plessis said.

In the final match, India scored 255 for 5. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan added quick half-centuries. Shivam Dube also played an important cameo. New Zealand struggled during the chase and were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs. India won the match by 96 runs.