Watch: 'Call me ...'- Sanju Samson credits Sachin Tendulkar for winning Player of The Tournament in T20 World Cup 2026

Sanju Samson didn’t have a great start to the 2026 year as he went empty during the home T20I series against New Zealand before missing the first few games of the T20 World Cup 2026 before marking his way into the side with a fine yet small knock against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 stage of the event at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

But the Kerala-born turned that knock into a glorious campaign and celebrated three successive half-centuries to win the Player of the Tournament. Sanju Samson, during the post-match presentation, revealed that he had a meeting with Sachin Tendulkar, who helped him immensely.

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“I think, to be very honest, a lot of guidance and suggestions from our senior players in the former Indian team have really reached out to me, and they tried to help me out. But I think over the last couple of months, I hope I can share it here. I think I have been in constant touch with Sachin Tendulkar, sir. I think when I was outside, sitting outside in Australia, I was not playing a game.” Samson expressed in the presentation.

Sanju Samson gives credit to Sachin Tendulkar’s guidance in T20 WC 2026

Samson ended up with 321 runs in five innings of the event at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.38 as he revealed how Tendulkar called him on the eve of the final to take notice of his health, which was special to him.

Watch the video here: 

“So, I thought about, okay, what is the mindset required now? So, I reached out to him (Sachin Tendulkar), and I had huge, huge, huge conversations with him. And right yesterday also, he called me up to check how I'm feeling. So, I think getting guidance from someone like him, what more can I ask for? I think that clarity, that game preparation, that game awareness, that game sense, I think I’m very grateful for everyone who supported me.” Samson addressed.

“It all started one to two years before. When I was with the 2024 World Cup-winning team in the West Indies, I couldn’t play a game. I kept on visualizing. I kept on dreaming. I kept on working. This is exactly what I wanted to do then.” The Indian opener shed light.