Sanju Samson Just Silenced Every Critic. 🤫 India vs West Indies Review | T20 WC 2026

Episode Summary: Is this the moment Sanju Samson enters Indian cricket folklore? In a high-stakes T20 World Cup Quarter-Final at the iconic Eden Gardens, India’s back was against the wall chasing 196. Hosts Taran and Ishaan break down how Sanju Samson delivered the "innings of a lifetime" to secure India’s spot in the Semi-Finals.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Samson Masterclass: Analyzing the "Rohit-meets-Kohli" elegance and pacing that defined Sanju’s match-winning knock.
• Tactical Gambles: Did the West Indies miss a trick with Roston Chase opening, and was Shai Hope's strike rate "borderline criminal"?
• The Cheat Code: How Jasprit Bumrah’s clinical wickets and Arshdeep Singh’s 19th-over redemption kept the target chaseable.
• Abhishek Sharma Concerns: We debate the "fearless" approach of India’s young opener and if self-doubt is creeping in.
• Semi-Final Preview: A deep dive into the upcoming clash against England at Wankhede. Will India make the switch to Kuldeep Yadav?

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Timestamps:

• 0:00 – Intro & Quarter-Final Atmosphere
• 0:52 – Sanju Samson: An Innings for the Ages
• 7:07 – The Toss & Pitch Conditions at Eden Gardens
• 8:36 – West Indies Batting Breakdown
• 11:37 – Bumrah & Arshdeep: The Death Bowling Heroics
• 16:32 – Abhishek Sharma’s Form & Mental Clarity
• 23:07 – Preview: Semi-Final vs. England at Wankhede

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Transcript

Taran (00:00.078)
Welcome back to the Inbetween Orders Podcast where your host of the day is play, I'm Tehran.

Ishaan Sharma (00:03.875)
And I'm E-Shon.

Taran (00:05.912)
Don't forget to smash the like button and subscribe to the channel.

Ishaan Sharma (00:10.009)
It was an iconic quarterfinal game at the iconic Eden Gardens in India. It was West Indies versus India. Basically, winner goes on towards the semifinal of the T20 World Cup. West Indies played a phenomenal, phenomenal knock of 195. It runs on the board, pressure on India, but India actually, actually came through. Back is against the wall, shoulders were dropped, but India was able to secure the dub and make it to their

I don't know, third, fourth consecutive semi-final. So interesting road ahead for India. West Indies well played though. A lot to talk about, Tyron. were your initial thoughts of today's game?

Taran (00:52.394)
A man from Kerala.

Finally had the innings that will put him in Indian folklore getting India into the semis It was well deserved it proved The faith that the Indian selectors and the management had in him for the last not just the last few months But for the last few years He's always shown to have the talent always shown to have the ability

He's done it in the IPL multiple times where he won games for his team. He impressed his situations, but he wasn't able to translate it consistently at the international level. There were spurts where he did well. I can remember that series where he had in four games, I believe it was three centuries that he scored. And then he had other games where he had fifties and got good starts. And then he had some low patches in between.

that saw himself out of the squad, then back in the squad, then out of the squad again, and then just close to the T20 World Cup, he lost his place in the 11th. And you would think at that point, someone in a position like that, that's when self-doubt creeps in. And kudos to him for admitting to it that he did go through self-doubt as any human being does. But kudos to him for overcoming it because he just played the innings of a lifetime and

Every single person that's a Sanju Samson fan is celebrating this win for him today.

Ishaan Sharma (02:30.713)
Yeah, and you called it right. It was the Sanju Samson show and he did save a lot of careers today in my eyes. I think today if India were to lose, you would have had questions on Kothangam Beer, on Suryukumar Yadav and on Sanju Samson. Let's be real, if this ended their T20 campaign, sorry, their T20 World Cup campaign, for the next T20 World Cup, they would have started to ask questions of who fits where and unfortunately,

As always, Sanju Samson would have got the short end of the stick, but he stepped up as a lot of people expected him to. I think we were chatting before the game and we said, this is poised for a Sanju Samson show. Two early wickets, a must-win game situation, Sanju Samson playing a few balls in, getting comfortable. This was his innings to exploit. We've seen him do it and what a way to do it. Him being able to hit the final runs as well.

It was a great, great watch. I think everyone in the stadium who has followed Sanju Sampson's story, which I believe, I think his debut was either 2014 or 2016. So it's been quite a number of years. know, he was able to sort of, as you mentioned, make do of the promises and expectations he had.

Taran (03:44.064)
It was an innings of complete class, complete control. It's the Sunju Samson that we know and have grown to appreciate. There wasn't a single mistake in his innings. He paced his innings so well. I heard Michael Vaughn say this on one of the post-match conferences online where he said that it never seemed like he went up to fifth gear. He was always in third or fourth gear the entire innings, yet he had a strike rate of

over 150 I believe, which is phenomenal to consider if he hasn't gone at fifth gear. That means he's shown complete control and you saw that in his shot selection as well. There's nothing agricultural about his shots, no slogging, no power hits, just pure timing, pure class, playing the bowling as it came, hitting the balls as they were meant to be hit. There were very few manufactured shots and it was a pure

innings from a batting technique and just from a batsmanship standpoint.

Ishaan Sharma (04:48.067)
Yeah, and I think at the end, he also mentioned two legends of the game in his Man of the Match speech. He mentioned Virak Kohli and Rohit Sharma. And obviously he said in the context that he was watching them play and learning a lot from them. But if you take a step back and analyze the way he played today, I think it was a combination of Rohit Sharma and Virak Kohli. I think the elegance in which he played, the extra time he seemed to have attacking the ball, that was a Rohit Sharma. And his ability to pace the innings.

and ability to sort of, know, he's on 30, he's already on 60 in the way Coley would play. know, he kind of, you know, was able to time his innings in a very appropriate fashion.

Taran (05:30.094)
Yeah, I'm going to quote him from his press match presser after when he received his well-deserved Man of the Match award where one of the things that he said was, been playing this format for many years, learned from a lot of greats like Coli, Rohit Sharma, and M.S. Tony. That helped with my experience. I've noticed how the greats play and seeing how they change their game according to situation. That was phenomenal to hear because

It shows you that even though he wasn't playing in, it wasn't in the 11 all the time in the past several years, he was still involved in improving his game by learning from the greats. And that's what you want to see in any level of cricket, not only cricket, any level of life, right? Anything, any career that you're in, you always want to learn from the people who are successful at what you're doing. And it seems like that's what he did. And it was a great.

Great thing that he shared because I hope a lot of youngsters out there playing the game or just going about their lives in whatever career and field they're in. That's essentially what you should be doing if you want to get good at what you're doing, whatever your field is.

Ishaan Sharma (06:40.423)
100 % 100 % I think it's really great for him to acknowledge that and also show the raw emotion He did when he was able to secure the win for India It obviously you know this was in light of the runs on the board from West Indies Shall we start from the beginnings West Indies starting to bat Interesting interesting changes as well you had Shay Hope and Chase opening up What were your thoughts on their approach and then their eventual total?

Taran (06:55.5)
Yes.

Taran (07:07.692)
Before we dive into the West Indies batting, the toss was won by India and they chose to field. Did you feel anything about that given India did not chase so well in the tournament thus far?

Ishaan Sharma (07:19.277)
Yeah, did. I did, you know, obviously think about the decision. I think they did think about the dew factor and that playing a role in the field. And I think that's what actually ended up happening. They kept showing the camera on the wheels of those tires on the RoboCab to show the moisture and it was some moisture. You also saw some mist field as well. And so I think, yeah, it kind of was the right decision. But to your point, I did think about, you know, whether they should have switched it or not. What were your thoughts?

Taran (07:46.854)
I thought it was a good toss to win. It felt like both teams wanted to bowl first given the due factor. And I believe Eden Gardens, it's always been known. They've always had a due issue there. You see it in the IPL as well. Most teams like to chase because the ground isn't very big either. And the ball comes onto the bat, as you saw in this game, where we had close to 400 runs scored in a virtual knockout game, right? So.

I thought it was a good toss for India to win and I thought the decision was good to to field first as well, given that the do-may-play factor, which it did.

Ishaan Sharma (08:26.605)
Yeah, exactly that. So obviously West Indies starting off batting, hitting first. What were your thoughts on their approach and sort of, I guess, India's bowling as well?

Taran (08:36.686)
The most surprising thing was watching Rostein Chase walk out with Shea Holt. So I may get flack for saying this, but I don't rate Rostein Chase as a batter. I think that he's a better bowler than he is a batter. He does have innings here and there where he looks good. I think he had a great start to his career and he sort of dropped in his batting. Obviously teams probably figured out how to bowl to him and things of that nature. And so his batting has taken a dip in the last 12 to 24 months.

So I was surprised to see him come up, but then again Brandon King hasn't done much all tournament for them So it felt it felt that they needed to they need that spark at the top and they give they give King the entire tournament and he didn't get a score I think above 25 so They needed to do something different and they chose to it was a gamble because Ross and Chase has never opened in t20 cricket So you essentially putting him into a role that he's never done in the must-win game

as well. having said that, kudos to him for the innings that he played. He played, he made a 40 from 25 balls, 160 strike rate, great opening partnership with Shay Hope. Although I felt that they started the, they started pushing the pedal to the metal a few overs too late, given the start that they got, I think they didn't take advantage of the power play and I feel Shay Hope is to blame here.

He ended up facing 33 balls and scored 32 runs at a strike rate under 100, which I believe in T20 cricket is borderline criminal, especially if you're facing 33 balls. I think if you face under 20 balls and you're at a run a ball, you can be forgiven because you could say you're getting into your innings and then you just got out right at that pivotal moment, but he's well into his innings. 33 balls, he should have been at 50 by then at least.

And I felt that his innings and it's tough to just call out single out performances, but you can easily say that with his innings, he could have scored 20 more runs, which would have made a massive difference in the target.

Ishaan Sharma (10:45.095)
No, I completely agree. It was a faux pas on his part. And I think he believed he did acknowledge it in the press after the match. I think he has a question from a journalist about his innings and whether that he could have, you know, looking back, could have scored at a faster rate or looked to, you know, speed it up. And he did acknowledge that. So I'm glad to see. Yeah, you know, you look at it and the total that they eventually had at 195, it was only after four outs. So they obviously had the ability to sort of...

you know, and the batsmen in the crease would sort of, you know, go at it. So yeah, it was especially surprising because it did seem like they were, they could have put a little bit more runs on the board, but think India did a fairly decent job at sort of getting inroads at the right times. You you had Vardhan and Rick in the partnership in the beginning, and you also had Vomran and Cole coming in later to get a few other wickets.

Taran (11:37.462)
Yeah, you had Jasvid Bumrah who got two in and over. That man is just a cheat code. India needed him to get Shimran Edmire out and he got Shimran Edmire out. There's stats out there that before this inning, Shimran Edmire has got out five times to Bumrah. So apparently he has the bunny on Shimran Edmire and it proved it yet again where he was able to get him out right when Shimran Edmire was looking good.

He's been the informed batsman for West Indies at that number three spot this whole tournament and he was looking good in his innings and his wicket and then followed by Ross and Chase's wicket. So you're having two set batsmen get out right at the point where West Indies were looking to take off. And I think that pushed them back a couple of overs because they had to consolidate again for a couple of hours and then take off again. Had one of the set batsmen still been there.

Again, we're talking probably adding another 15-20 runs to the score.

Ishaan Sharma (12:35.943)
Yeah, I totally, totally agree. Those wickets were really important to sort of bring the run rate down. But then you had an incredible partnership from Powell and Jason Holder. I think they had like above and a 50-50 run partnership. And I think it was maybe around 200 clicks. That really brought the momentum back towards West Indies as well. And if you look at the West Indies batting, they had a pretty good middle order. Some of the players obviously being in form, a lot of big hitters. And I think Jason Holder and Powell were able to do as much as they could at the end.

But I do want to give a shout out to Rstupes 19th over. I think he had maybe given just around six runs out over, which you have Powell and Jason Holder on the crease there. It's tough to bolt to them, especially at the death. But Rstupes saying with a great 19th over to sort of restrict as much as he could have, I think that was super important for Team India.

Taran (13:29.198)
not only did he give six runs in the 19th over but he did that after getting clobbered for 24 runs in the previous over courtesy of five wides that he gave as well so he must have been under immense pressure in that final over to not give too many runs in it and he did an amazing job because again he could have gone for another 10 in that and again we're talking about a score over 200 but at the end of the day India were able to restrict West Indies to a sub 200 total

Ishaan Sharma (13:34.201)
if

Taran (13:58.05)
How did you feel at the innings break about the target?

Ishaan Sharma (14:01.839)
I thought the target was a tricky target. think if it was a low score, obviously, you know, India could bat if differently. And if it was like a 220 above score, India should bat Hazy, Hazy always bat. But I think a 195 kind of puts them in a, as you mentioned, you know, maybe like a fourth gear, you know, and sometimes it's hard to maintain that fourth gear. So I did think it was runs on the board and some, which was a thing a little bit difficult, especially in a much, in a, in in a must-win game.

Taran (14:30.956)
Yeah, I completely agree with that. I felt 195 was a very good score. Although in the moment when the target was set, I felt it was chaseable given the way the pitch was playing, knowing the fact that West Indies bowlers aren't as experienced or skillful as the Indian bowlers. And I felt that it was a very chaseable target from that perspective, which is which in itself is a big thing to say.

given that it was 195. If this was, call it three or four years ago, you look at 195, you're leaning on the team batting first, probably winning the game, especially if they get off to a good start with the ball in the power play. And so at the innings break, for me to think that, oh, this is chaseable, says a lot about how far the game has progressed as well over the past few years.

and says a lot about the pitches in India as well. The pitches like these where they're absolutely flat. You saw in the way West Indies were hitting through the line, some of Holder's against Bumrah, he didn't even seem like he got it clean, but he was able to just go through with the shot and still clear the boundary or get to the boundary. So you felt that the Indian batters would be able to do something similar if they could get in. And so I felt confident at that stage, but

195 is still 195, that too in a knockout game.

Ishaan Sharma (16:03.371)
Yeah, yeah, especially that. As you mentioned, you have a little comfort as well with a score like that with your top three batters being Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Aishan Kishan. What were your thoughts on it? We obviously talked about Sanju Samson, but Abhishek Sharma and Aishan Kishan. So we obviously know Aishan Kishan is in form and obviously just didn't come off today. But Abhishek Sharma, another light innings from him. Is it time to worry?

Taran (16:32.014)
I don't think it's time to worry. Although I do think there's been a slight shift in his mentality just in the way he's approaching. It seems like in the past he was completely fearless and I don't think he's completely fearless now. I think there's a little bit of doubt seeping in because of the failures and that's completely normal because he's human. He's human just like any human being, right? But you can see that in the way that he's approaching his innings. Like typically, you you see him step out right away.

You see him attack right away. You kind of see him buy his time, which is fine. But you get the feeling that he's hesitating in his approach, if that makes any sense. It's okay to play the way he's playing, but the intent there doesn't seem the same as it was before. You know what I mean? It still feels like he's hesitating in his approach, where he seems to be caught in two minds as to how to go about it.

given the failures. So hopefully he's able to clear himself up because India is going to need him, especially in the semi-final and the final if they get there. Because the next two games, if they play two games, are going to be against some of the best teams in this tournament. And so he has to be able to find that mental clarity that he needs to give India a good start because it could have gone haywire for India today with him getting out and then Ishan Krishna getting out. It was a tricky spot, but once again,

Surya Kumar's innings, again, it was just 18 of 16, but he provided that stability, that comfort, and that's exactly what I'm talking about to compare against Abhishek's innings. Similar type of innings, not big scores, same, faced similar amounts of balls, Sky faced five more, but the intent was there from Sky. Like he was very clear on what he needed to do in that moment. And so I think Abhishek just needs to figure that out and he'll be fine.

But yeah, it can be concerning, but I think we'll be okay. He just needs to find clarity.

Ishaan Sharma (18:36.121)
I agree, I agree. I don't think it's time to worry or click any panic buttons. I think I agree with you completely when it comes to his approach. Being fearless suits him. And I think no matter what failures he comes with, it comes with the fact that he should stay fearless. And if you look at the next match, which is against England in Wankhuri, the last time they both played each other in a T20 game in Wankhuri, Abhishek Sharma had great innings.

Taran (18:46.392)
Mm-hmm.

Ishaan Sharma (19:02.823)
That entire series in fact he played extremely well. So I think we should expect you know this a similar performance from him because of the fact that you know, he should be used to the opposition You know, he's literally played against them at the same arena within the last six months So I'm expecting him to come out fearless but to your point, you know, maybe not time to worry but definitely, you know a chance for concern in the sense that he needs to keep his mentality the same as it was in the Asia Cup

Taran (19:33.23)
So India got home with 4 balls to spare courtesy Sanjay Samson who we showered a lot of praises on already. out to the rest of the batting lineup that batted around Samson where everyone seemed to do his job. think one of the most underrated innings in India's batting performance today is Tilak Verma's 27 or 15 balls. He provided that impetus at the time where again a fall of wicked would have made it tricky or

him playing at a slower strike rate could have put added pressure on Sanju. But because he was able to clear the ropes and play the innings that he did, it took some of the pressure off of Sanju where Sanju was then allowed to just stay there right till the end and take the game deep, which is what he did. But he wouldn't have been able to do that, I think, if Tilakwarma didn't play the innings that he did.

Ishaan Sharma (20:24.807)
100%. I think Dalai Lama has been exceptional and he's been very great at being flexible. We saw him come in at a different batting position before, coming in at a different batting position now. Being flexible has been super important in this squad and he's been able to feel like a glove and I think that's really, really great. And then also very quickly Shivam Dubey. I think Shivam Dubey coming in and playing with the intensity as he did from ball one is exactly what India needed. I think when he came in, he needed to soak up the pressure in the 19th over.

He did exactly that. And he was able to get the scores down to a certain level now where it was very comfortable for such a Samson to win it for India. But I think Shubh Dubey's innings was very, very important as well.

Taran (21:08.662)
Yeah, it was just four balls, but it was at a time where India still needed 17 runs to win the game. I think there were 10 balls left. Yeah, there were 10 balls left in the innings. So it was a crucial part of the game where had he gotten out or had he not been able to clear the ropes, West Indies could have been back in the game, especially if India would have had a plus 10 to chase in that last over. As it ended up happening,

He scored two boundaries, important boundaries. India needed seven off the last over and Sanju was able to get the job done.

Ishaan Sharma (22:32.835)
Overall, was a great game for both India and the West Indies. Went right down to the wire. India will now be playing the semi-final against England at the Wankhra. It will be an incredible, incredible match. Can't wait. In a few days' time, T20 World Cup is ending off very, very nicely. And I just can't wait to get right into those next games.

Taran (22:57.465)
Yes, yes. And before we close it off, what is your prediction for the semi-final against England? It's going to be a good one. Do you see India coming out with the W?

Ishaan Sharma (23:08.839)
I do see India coming out with a W. I think India needed that loss against South Africa to really change up the order, get sort of the mentality right. I think they should be in a very good mental space. think such as Samson playing well, I think obviously Aishan Kishan playing well, they like Verma playing well. I think they should be able to get over the line against England.

Taran (23:30.759)
Okay, okay. I feel the same way. think India will build off of this momentum. I think they had the loss they needed to have and they had to deal with the pressure they needed to deal with. now it continues. The pressure is not going to leave, but at least now they have some confidence that they can handle it. And I think that is what they were able to show in the last two games. And I feel that it's going to be a very close game. think England are, seem to be a team that's starting to peak at the right time.

Ishaan Sharma (24:00.455)
Mm-hmm.

Taran (24:00.519)
They did not lose in the Super 8 stage. They won all their games. They had different batters contributing. They had different bowlers contributing. Although I will say that England did play in Sri Lanka for most of those games. So they're coming back to India. Once again, these English players have experience at the 1K Day. Someone like a Joss Butler who's been playing absolutely non-Joss Butler type innings where I think he scored 15 runs in this entire World Cup so far. He's due.

Ishaan Sharma (24:22.951)
Haha.

Taran (24:28.705)
And if he's able to get off to a flyer, India better watch out. So it's going to be a humdinger of a game for sure. You also got to keep in mind Jacob Bethel, Harry Brook. There's a lot of individual match winners in the English team as well. From a bowling standpoint, I think India holds the edge and I think that is where India can win the game with the ball, just the skill set of Gumrah. Varun Chakraborty, if he gets a little bit of purchase out of the wicket, I think he's going to be a handful.

He has been taking to the cleaners a little bit in the last few games and that is, I feel, to do with the pitches as well. Not much in there for him. Batters can play through the line. So it's going to be fascinating to watch the battles in the game. Battle of the captaincy too. think Harry Brook is a really good captain. And so is Sky. So it's going to be great from a tactical standpoint to see if there's any specific matchups that end up taking place that we don't see coming.

Ishaan Sharma (25:26.265)
No, no, exactly right. You know, have history between the players. You have obviously, you know, just recent history as well when it comes to the bilateral series. So I think it's going to be a humdinger of a match, as you mentioned.

Taran (25:38.961)
Do you see India making a change for the semi-final?

Ishaan Sharma (25:43.109)
That's a great question. There could be one actually. I could see a potential change in which Kuldeep comes in for Varun Chakravarty. think obviously Varun hasn't been playing to obviously his highest potential. Does India need a sort of a risk spinner coming in against England as player like Kuldeep? Another point to balance out with is in the bilateral series against England, Varun Chakravarty played extremely, extremely well and they could not pick him.

Was wondering your thoughts on that particular change,

Taran (26:16.967)
I can see Kulde playing although I probably wouldn't at this stage in the tournament. think you go with the players that you've backed so far. Varun has just played on tougher pitches for spinners so I think that he'll be fine against England. He'll figure it out. The English batters can play spin but every batter finds it hard picking Varun Chakravarty and I feel like

He has the ability. He may not be able to bowl and restrict the runs every single game, but he can take a key wicket here and there. Like we saw today when he got Sheyhope out, which was a key wicket, and they weren't able to get a breakthrough when he came in his first over and did that. So I am playing Varun Chakravarty. I think he will be able to perform well against some of the lesser batters against spin on the English side. They don't have too many. This English side is good.

Ishaan Sharma (26:55.515)
Mm-hmm.

Taran (27:12.795)
though the T20 side is good when it comes to playing spin. I'm thinking Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Sam Curran as well, that middle order Jacob Bethel can play spin. And of course, Josh Butler at the top. Phil Salt does play spin, but I feel like he's a better batter against the faster bowlers. And I think he's a key player as well for them. But yeah, Varun will still be a good trump card for India, I feel, if they play him.

Ishaan Sharma (27:39.333)
Yeah, regardless of not, think it's going to be a cracker of a game. It's at the long clay semifinal of the T20 World Cup. Can't get much bigger than that.

Taran (27:48.335)
Yeah, we can't wait to bring it to you after the game. Until then, that's thumbs.