Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble praised Sanju Samson for his heroics in the T20 World Cup 2026. Kumble said Samson played like a combination of Kohli and Rohit as he has ability to anchor innings like the former and also has the skills to take the attack to the opposition in the Powerplay overs like the latter.

The Kerala batter returned with scores of 97(50), 89(42), and 89(46) in the virtual quarterfinals, semifinal and final of the tournament, respectively. The right-hander was awarded Player of the tournament after he scored 321 runs in five matches at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.38.

The flamboyant batter was at his best in the summit clash against the Kiwis and played a key role in getting India to 255.

Anil Kumble said on ESPN Cricinfo, “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].

On the other hand, former South African captain Faf du Plessis said Samson batted with aplomb as he was in prime form.

He added, “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. You can see how clear he is in what is his strengths and the areas where he doesn’t want to score. His tempo is so beautiful. It doesn’t feel like he is trying to overhit the ball.”

Samson will be next seen in action while playing for CSK in IPL 2026.