Gautam Gambhir has fought with everyone to get Sanju Samson into the team: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer and the Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhtar, has credited the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir for backing the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson despite his poor form ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. 

Notably, Samson got back to his rhythm in the virtual quarter-final clash against the West Indies, scoring an unbeaten 97-run knock, propelling the team to the semi-final. Later, in the semi-final, he scored a valuable 89-run knock against England, advancing them to the final.

During a discussion on the 'Game On Hai' show on PTV Sports, Akhtar went on to state that Samson's selection wouldn't have been possible if Gambhir hadn't fought for his inclusion with the Indian team management.

"Samson has been in the Indian cricket circuit since 2014. Back in the days when I was working in India, around 2015, there was a lot of hype surrounding him. He had to wait for a long time to get regular chances as India had wicketkeepers like MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and others. Even now, Gambhir has fought with everyone to get him into the team. Basically, his selection has been done forcefully and after a lot scrutiny. He didn't feature in the tournament initially," said Akhtar in a video shared by Tapmad.

Notably, Samson has scored 232 runs in four matches at an average of 77.33, with a strike rate of 201.73, including two fifties and a top score of 97* in the ongoing showpiece event. With his knock of 89 against England, he equalled batting icon Virat Kohli's record for most runs by an Indian in a T20 World Cup knockout game. Interestingly, Virat had also smashed 89* in 47 balls against the West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final.

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