‘Ek hundred ho jaye toh mazaa aa jayega’ – Sanju Samson makes honest admission on India’s ‘trophy over milestone’ philosophy

One of the biggest factors behind India’s ruthless white-ball dominance under coach Gautam Gambhir has been a shift in the team’s mindset. The head coach has implemented a strict team-over-personal-milestones policy inside the Indian dressing room, making it clear that individual landmarks hold little value.

However, this philosophy was not introduced only after India’s historic triumph in the T20 World Cup 2026. Speaking at an event, Sanju Samson revealed that the message had already been communicated to the players during India’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in July 2024, when Gambhir took charge of the side. Since then, the Indian players have largely embraced the team-first approach.

“Those were constant conversation points that we wrote down in team meetings since the Sri Lanka series (in 2024) when Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav took over. From that moment, it was clear there was no place for personal milestones. That is how our character got aligned,” Samson was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.

Despite the clarity around the rule, Samson admitted that he momentarily drifted towards thinking about a personal milestone during India’s victorious World Cup campaign, during one of his historic innings. The Indian opener, who bagged the Player of the Tournament award for his exceptional batting, acknowledged that the thought of scoring a century did cross his mind before he reminded himself to stay committed to the team’s objective first.

“Yes, there is a conscious effort. But when people say that I missed out on three hundreds, I feel I made a much bigger contribution. I won’t say I never thought about those hundreds. As a human being, I also thought that ‘Ek hundred ho jaye toh mazaa aa jayega. (It would be fun to score one century)’ You definitely think about it,” he continued.

“But then I told myself, ‘How did you score so many runs?’ So, I respected the process and kept playing my shots. The only thought was what the team needed from me at that moment,” the Kerala batter concluded.

Samson came agonisingly close to the three-figure mark multiple times during the tournament. He remained unbeaten on 97 against the West Indies in Kolkata, before being dismissed for an identical 89 in both the semifinal against England and the final against New Zealand.

The Kerala batter, who was not part of the playing XI in four of India’s inital matches, eventually finished the tournament with 321 runs, including three half-centuries, capping off a remarkable campaign.