Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has backed head coach Gautam Gambhir’s comments after India registered a five-wicket win against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Sunday. After India’s win, Gambhir said he backs instincts over data in T20Is.

Sanju Samson played a match-winning knock of 97 runs off just 50 balls in the run-chase of 196, and Gambhir was full of praise for the Indian opener, who bounced back to form in style.

Gambhir had said in the presser, “I don’t believe in data, honestly. I have never seen data. I don’t even know what data is all about. I feel T20s are more about instinct and backing your instinct as well.”

Commenting on Gambhir’s statement, Srikkanth said, “It was a superb statement by Gambhir. I loved it. Data should be used only up to one point. Data won’t bat, bowl, or field for you; you have to do it yourself as a player. Data is just information, but it’s the instinct that ultimately leads to success. Did Sanju Samson bat with data the other night? He smashed the bowling on instinct. Even Bumrah vs Hetmyer, Bumrah had to bowl well to get his wicket and not just bowl. He couldn’t have just bowled a full toss to dismiss Hetmyer.”

“For a change, I completely agree with Gautam Gambhir. Instinct plays a major role, especially in T20 cricket. If you play using data, you can’t play some of the shots Sanju Samson played against the West Indies. Samson was playing tennis shots off front and back foot because he was playing out of instinct. The data from a computer won’t bat for you, you only have to. Just for today, I am a fan of Gambhir after reading similar statements.

Meanwhile, the 1983 World Cup-winning player added that Samson’s knock will be remembered for life. There was a lot of pressure on Samson, and he was finally able to deliver the goods.

“All the newspapers have huge photos of Sanju Samson now. People have seemingly forgotten about Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shubman Gill. This is an incredible turnaround for Sanju. That’s the impact of the knock. When you play a match-winning knock in a must-win game, people will remember it for life. This knock was so brilliant that everybody now talks only about Sanju Samson,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.