Sanju Samson, the hero of India’s T20 World Cup win, reached his hometown Thiruvananthapuram on Monday (March 9). Sanju got a grand welcome at the airport. During this time, he also spoke to journalists and told how he made a memorable comeback in the T20 World Cup 2026. Sanju lost his place in the playing XI at the beginning of the tournament. Due to Abhishek Sharma being ill, he got a chance to play against Namibia. As soon as Abhishek became fit, he was out.

After the defeat against South Africa in the Super-8, Team India changed its strategy and Sanju was brought in the opening slot by breaking the pair of Abhishek Sharma-Ishan Kishan. Sanju took advantage of this opportunity and scored 80 plus in three consecutive knockout matches. After scoring an unbeaten 97 runs in the virtual quarter-final match against West Indies, he scored 89 runs each in the semi-finals and final. He was awarded the Player of the Match award.

After reaching Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju said that he had kept his phone switched off for the last one month. Sanju also told that he changed his game plan in the T20 World Cup, due to which he got success.

How did Sanju return to form?

Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty welcomed Sanju at Thiruvananthapuram airport. Hundreds of cricket fans had gathered outside the airport and raised slogans in support of this Kerala cricketer. Sanju told the journalists on this occasion that earlier he used to try to play big shots on every ball. He said, ‘I tried to hit every ball but it did not work. Then I had to learn from my failures. I tried to increase the strike rate in the 5-match series but was not successful in that either. After this I prepared for the World Cup with a different game plan.

Sanju had said after the final match in Ahmedabad that the great Sachin Tendulkar helped him to overcome the bad phase. When asked about this, he said, ‘We were in touch because I had been sending him messages for the last few years. We used to talk even when we met during IPL.

Sanju told that when he was struggling with poor form, the first name that came to his mind for advice was Sachin. He said, ‘When I contacted him he spoke to me from the heart. For about 25 minutes, he shared his career experiences, what to think about in difficult times, how to practice and how to deal with situations. This really helped me.

Sanju said this on the impact of social media

Sanju said that social media has a deep impact on players, which can be positive as well as negative. He said, ‘The youth should learn to handle it properly. Through social media, I understood how much people love me but when circumstances are adverse, you should open social media only when you can bear it. Sanju told that he had kept his phone switched off for the last one month and his social media accounts are handled by a team.