Shashi Tharoor on Saturday praised Indian cricketer Sanju Samson for his crucial performances in the ongoing tournament, saying the Kerala-born batter played a key role in taking India to the final. Speaking in Thiruvananthapuram, the Congress MP said he was delighted to see Samson bounce back strongly after initially being left out of the playing XI. “Yeah, I’m excited about that. It’s actually for me been a very happy tournament because Sanju began out of the team, came back into the team and has been the star performer in the last two crucial matches,” Tharoor said.

He noted that Samson’s match-winning innings against the West Indies cricket team was instrumental in helping India secure a place in the semi-finals. “Without his performance against the West Indies, we would not have been in the semi-finals and without his performance in the semi-finals we would not be in the finals,” Tharoor added. 

Sanju Samson, who did not start India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, is now having a tournament to remember. The right-handed batter from Kerala is making it count when it matters the most, having already registered scores of 97 not out against the West Indies and 89 against England in the semi-final. The 31-year-old did not start in the XI in the group stages, as his form had tapered off in the previous series against New Zealand, and he played only against Namibia in New Delhi after Abhishek Sharma was sidelined due to a stomach infection. The Kerala batsman has made it to the nominations list for the Player of the Tournament accolade. 

Samson is the only Indian to make it to the shortlist. The other nominations are England's Will Jacks Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan South Africa's Lungi Ngidi and Aiden Markram, New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert, and USA's Shadley van Schalkwyk are the other candidates.