Rahul Dravid Praises Sanju Samson For Outstanding T20 World Cup 2026

Rahul Dravid praised Sanju Samson after his brilliant T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, in which he won the Player of the Tournament with three 80-plus scores.

Rahul Dravid praised Sanju Samson for his impact during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter delivered strong performances after struggling for a regular place in the playing XI earlier.

Sanju hit three 80-plus scores in key matches. Those knocks earned him the Player of the Tournament award. The former coach credited Sanju’s success to sustained effort and hard work.

“It was really nice to see Sanju be able to get it altogether in those final three games for India. He has been in and out of the team for a long time. He has performed and then lost his spot. But he has worked so hard, and it was really good to see him get it altogether,” Dravid told Star Sports.

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Rahul Dravid also praised the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir during the tournament. India entered the competition as favourites and handled expectations well.

“Lovely to see the performance of the T20 side. The expectations were immense. They started as favourites. It’s never easy to begin the tournament as a favourite and go on to win the trophy. It comes with its own pressure and challenges. It was really nice to see Surya and Gautam do that,” he added.

Dravid Receives Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

Notably, the coach received the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award from the Board of Control for Cricket in India on March 15. The award arrived exactly 25 years after India’s famous India vs Australia Kolkata Test 2001 win against Australia. Dravid expressed pride in serving India both as a player and a coach.

“Very grateful to have received the award. Very grateful for the opportunities that I have had in my life. I’ve been lucky to have played with some of the greatest cricketers. I have been lucky to have travelled the world, playing for my country. Very humbled by the opportunities the game has given me,” he said.

“It’s been phenomenal. Amazing to see how Indian cricket has grown over the decades. It always had amazing talent, good administrators and coaches. We have been able to back that with incredible infrastructure. We always had a really good domestic cricket system and junior cricket structure. And the kind of fans we have, India cricket has deserved to have success on the field,” the former coach concluded.