Gautam Gambhir drops ‘trust and faith’ statement on backing Indian openers in T20 World Cup 2026

The head coach of the Indian side, Gautam Gambhir, has displayed trust and faith, rather than hope, in both the opening batters, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, after they won the T20 World Cup 2026 against New Zealand by a massive margin of 96 runs at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

Abhishek Sharma didn’t make a great start to the campaign with three ducks at the beginning of the competition, while Samson was out of the eleven for the blue brigade before returning to the Indian side permanently during the Super 8 fixture against Zimbabwe in Chennai.

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“I think you pick the team on trust and faith. You don’t pick on hope. When you pick someone on trust and faith, you don’t lose that trust and faith after four or five games. Sometimes, it’s good to give someone a break. You want to escape the pressure, clear your head, and come back. The talent that Sanju has and the way he was batting in the nets, there was no doubt he’d deliver.” Gambhir expressed in an interview after winning the title.

Gautam Gambhir supports Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma

The former Indian head coach addressed the reason with Sanju Samson winning the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award with 321 runs, having collected three successive half-centuries in the virtual quarter-final, semifinal, and final of the event.

“More than the courage, it was a tactical change. More importantly, I don't think that the captain ever felt that Sanju was out of form. We always felt that after the New Zealand series, he needed a break. Sometimes it's good as a leadership group to give someone a break as well.” Gambhir concluded.

“More importantly, the talent that we know that Sanju had, and we knew that the way he was batting in the nets, there was no doubt that he's going to come in and deliver it for us. And how well has he delivered for us? I don't think I remember someone coming back and scoring that consistently in all three games, or probably all four games.” The Indian coach shed light.