“He’s a world class player, we all know how good a player Sanju is,” Gambhir told reporters after the game. “It was all about backing him. When the team needed him the most – obviously today was the day – he showed his full potential.”
What stood out for Gambhir was the control in Samson’s innings. He said the signs had been there in training, even if Samson didn’t post big scores in the lead up to the World Cup.
“I actually felt that he never accelerated the innings,” Gambhir said. “It was just very normal cricketing shots and I never saw him muscling the ball as well. That is the kind of talent he has.
“Obviously he had a tough series against New Zealand, so sometimes it’s important to give him a break as well, because you want to get the guy off that pressure situation as well. And we always knew that whenever we needed him in the World Cup game, he’ll come and deliver it for us.”
While Samson stayed right till the end in the chase of 196, Gambhir also pointed to the bowling powerplay as a key phase. India conceded only 45 even if they didn’t strike in the first six overs.
“I thought we started off really well, especially when you play this kind of a game of this magnitude,” Gambhir said. “You’ve got to start off really well with the new ball, which Arshdeep and Hardik did.
“I think the way they started off in the first three overs was really good and then Axar bowled two overs in the powerplay, which was again a great job done by him. It’s never easy on this wicket on their ground to bowl two overs in a powerplay, but Axar did that really well.
“The powerplay didn’t go away from us, which was very important because once the powerplay goes away from you, it’s very difficult to control.”
When asked if India are peaking at the right time, bouncing back with two strong wins after the loss to South Africa, Gambhir said he did not believe in that concept. He also said he asks his players to back their instinct over data.
“You’ve got to win every game that you represent your country,” he said. “There is nothing like peaking at the right time. It’s a short tournament, it’s a tournament that comes and goes very quickly. So you’ve got to try and play your A game every time.
“I don’t believe in data, honestly. I’ve never seen the data. I don’t even know what data is all about. I absolutely do not believe it. Because I feel it’s more about instinct. I think T20 cricket is about instinct and backing your instinct as well.”
“He’s batted out of his position,” Gambhir said. “He batted at No. 3 initially. But now when we’ve pushed him to five or six and see how he’s batted. So you’ve got that talent. You need to have that talent where you can bat out of positions. And more importantly, positions are overrated.”
“Look, now you’re talking about every contribution,” Gambhir said. “Because for too many years, we’ve only spoken about certain contributions. This is a team sport. And this will always remain a team sport.
“For me, I think Shivam’s… Those two boundaries are as important as Sanju’s 97. Because had Shivam not been able to hit those two boundaries. You wouldn’t have even spoken about Sanju.
“The big contributions make headlines but those small contributions help the team go across the line. That is the philosophy in the team.”
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
