Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh lavished praise on Sanju Samson after India clinched a five-wicket win against the West Indies in the Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday to book their place in the semifinals of the tournament.

Samson scored a brilliant knock of 97 runs off just 50 balls with the help of a dozen fours and four sixes. The Indian opener showed all the maturity in his strokeplay and batted with guile to take the team over the line in the run-chase of 196. 

Ramesh said Samson was hovering around mediocrity for far too long and this knock would do him a world of good.

Ramesh said on his Instagram handle, “It was the first time he played to his full potential and won India a match. A player who should have been on top of the mountain was hovering around mediocrity for too long. He has the ability to reach greater heights from this point, and hopefully, he doesn’t miss it. This was the knock of the World Cup. This is what fans have been asking from Sanju for a long time. If he plays to his potential like this, he can singlehandedly win so many matches.”

The former flamboyant opener believes Sanju Samson came out of syllabus for the West Indies bowlers as they must have focused more on Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

He added, “West Indies must have focused mainly on Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan. But an out-of-form Sanju came out of focus for them. They made a grave error by not focusing on him. There was a huge change in Sanju’s batting last night. Normally, when he smashes a six, he will go for another boundary and lose his wicket in the 20s. But this time he took a single after a big hit and kept planning the chase over by over in search of a big innings.”

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