Indian batter Sanju Samson has revealed that skipper Rohit Sharma had a 10-minute conversation with him before the 2024 T20 World Cup final. Samson said he was earlier expected to play in the summit clash against South Africa but the management decided otherwise.
Samson said Sharma explained his decision to not include him in the playing XI whereas the former wanted the Indian captain to focus on his captaincy and his game.
“During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he was making that decision. He was like, ‘You understood, na? You know his way, very casual?’ I told him, ‘Let us win the match and then talk. You focus on the match. He came back one minute later and said, ‘I know you are cursing me in your mind.’ I think you are not happy. I feel like you have something on your mind. Then we had a discussion,” said Samson in an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar.
“I told him, ‘As a player, I want to play’. I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. However, they decided before the toss that we would go with the same team. I was like, no worries. I was in that type of mood,” he added.
Samson said there would be regret in his mind that he missed out on an opportunity to play in the World Cup final under the leadership of a captain like Rohit Sharma.
“Since childhood, I wanted to come here and do something. Then he was like, ‘My pattern is like this’ and all that. I said I totally respect that you came and explained me. I said, ‘I will have a regret; I could not play a World Cup final with a leader like you.’ This will be a regret in my heart that I missed a World Cup final with a leader like Rohit Sharma. That will stay in my life,” Samson said in the same interaction.
“After this, I thought, such a big thing like a World Cup final. Before the final, you have changed your decision. You spent 10 minutes with the player that is not playing just before the toss. He gave me 10 minutes before the toss. After that, I got to know this person has some other qualities,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, after low returns in the first two T20Is against Bangladesh, Samson scored a magnificent knock of 111 runs off just 47 balls in the third T20I.
