Justice for Sanju: A true story from Kerala

New Delhi: Ardeep Singh has been a ‘personality’ on social media ever since India won the 2026 T20 World Cup. The left-arm seamer’s pranks and jokes spared no one, not even the head coach Gautam Gambhirnot what seniors like Jasprit Bumrah and akshar patel, not even Sanzhou SamsonHe was outstanding on three big nights at this World Cup.

In one of his many Instagram Reels, next to a beaming Sanju, the pacer quipped: “Father, justice has been done.“. Arshdeep said with a smile and quoted the social media trend #JusticeForSanju whenever the opener is benched during a T20 World Cup opener or on the eve of a match.This is Sanju Samson’s story over the past 18 months. Under Gambhir, the Kerala cricketer either batted like a millionaire or looked broke. He lost his place and lost his confidence, but he had the support of the team management, which proved to be one of the many outstanding aspects of India’s T20 World Cup victory.First came the trophy milestones: second in a row, third overall, back-to-back, first for the host nation. Looking deeper, even though the batting is the high-profile aspect of the game, the bowling is outstanding. When the batting looked like a mess, after a few changes, things took a sharp turn. India have scored more than 250 runs in three of their last four matches. A total of 106 sixes were hit throughout the match, the first time a team had hit a century-high mark.But another factor stands out. This is the basis of Team India’s success. It’s been a show of support from the selectors, coaching staff and leadership team to several players, but arguably none more so than Sanju Samson. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the perseverance he’s shown.

For teams in the past, a 76-run defeat by South Africa would have led to a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, it encountered some shrewd strategic changes. Samson played in the subsequent match against Zimbabwe. After an opening knock of 24 off 15 balls with Abhishek Sharma, the template was set.“Do your role, understand their responsibilities, step in at the right time, talk to every player when someone is not performing well. That is more important to me. When someone is not performing well, you try to spend time with him, take him out to eat, talk to him because these players will do something special for you at the right time, just like Abhishek did just now and Sanju did in the last three games.” Suryakumar Yadav at the post-game press conference.

India coach Gautam Gambhir admitted that it was always going to be tough for the 31-year-old, especially with his career on the line.“It takes a lot of character and courage when you know that maybe your career is on the line. Even though the captain and I can show as much faith and trust in him, you know deep down that you didn’t perform well in the series against New Zealand before the World Cup started. And then you didn’t start in the starting XI during the World Cup and gave up your place to Ishan Kishan,” coach Gambhir said.

The format is not the best. In the series against New Zealand, Samson scored only 46 points with an average of 9.20 and a maximum score of 24 points. In the T20 World Cup against Namibia, despite India’s record of 209/9, he only contributed 22 runs off 8 balls.That may be it for Sanju and his India ambitions, but with the team’s top order exposed time and time again, a shuffle of order and approach is the need of the hour. Coupled with South Africa’s heavy hitting, it worked in the Thiruvananthapuram-born cricketer’s favour.Samson jumped at the chance and it made sense to have support. Scored 97 off 50 balls against the West Indies. Scored 89 off 42 balls against England. In the final, they scored 89 off 46 balls against New Zealand. A total of 138 balls, 275 runs, and a strike rate of nearly 200, including 25 fours and 19 sixes.

Let us analyze the importance of these three games. 89 runs against New Zealand is the highest score in a T20 World Cup final. He scored more than fifty runs in the semi-finals and finals and made the four-man roster. His 321 runs made him India’s highest run-scorer in a single T20 World Cup and the third-highest overall scorer. He ended up hitting 24 sixes, the most by a player in a single tournament and almost a quarter of India’s total.Before all that, however, he sat in the dugout. After every struggle in India’s top order, the cameras turned on him. Question marks have been raised repeatedly but the noise grew louder after the loss to the Proteas. At that point, assistant coach Ryan Ten Duchard admitted that bringing in Sanju would be a “talking point.”Meanwhile, after the New Zealand series, Sanju felt his “dream was shattered”. But with Sachin Tendulkar Keep the faith, make sure he stays positive and hope good luck befalls him.

“A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me. I wish I could share it here, I have been in touch with Mr. Sachin over the past few months. As I sat outside Australia during the T20Is in October, not playing a game, I thought about what mentality is required.“I reached out to Sir and had a long conversation with him. Even last night, he called me and asked me how I was feeling. To get guidance, clarity, game preparation, awareness and game awareness from a guy like him, I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me.”Sanju admitted that the lowest point came after the New Zealand series. He felt “broken” and “out of his mind” and his dreams were “destroyed”. It reminded him of where this wish had come from.“The whole process started a year or two ago when I was playing for West Indies in the 2024 World Cup-winning team,” he said. “I couldn’t play but I kept dreaming, kept imagining, kept working. That’s exactly what I wanted to do at that time,” Samson said on becoming part of the Rohit Sharma-led team.

“I thought I needed to put in so much work because this is what I wanted to achieve. By the grace of God, today things turned around,” he continued.The inclusion of Keralites in the team’s ‘Justice for Sanju’ social media campaign might have felt like a step too far. Sometimes it even seems embarrassing. But now that the script has been written, maybe this is God’s plan after all.