Ricky Ponting talks about Team India’s T20 World Cup winning campaign
New Delhi: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has hailed India’s decision to back Sanju Samson as an opener during their victorious ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign. Ponting said the confidence shown by captain Suryakumar Yadav and the Samsun coaching staff played a major role in India’s success.Samson’s tournament did not start smoothly. Before the World Cup, he had scored just 46 runs in five T20Is against the New Zealand cricket team. He initially got a chance in the league match against the Namibia national cricket team in New Delhi after Abhishek Sharma fell ill. Later, he was brought back for the main Super Eight match against the Zimbabwe national cricket team and turned the tournament around with a series of brilliant performances.
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Samson played some crucial knocks as India progressed in the contest. He scored an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies national cricket team in Kolkata, followed by 89 in the semi-final against the England cricket team in Mumbai and another 89 in the final against the New Zealand national cricket team in Ahmedabad. His total of 321 runs in five innings became the most by an Indian batsman in a single edition of the T20 World Cup and he was awarded the Player of the Tournament award.
“For India to stay with him at the top there, that was a big decision to make. A big decision, but it was really successful in the end. If you have the support of the coaching staff and the captain, that’s all you need,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.Just a pat on the back or an arm around the shoulder to say: We stand by you, we believe in you. When you have the quality that Sanju has, and the confidence of the captain and the coach behind you, then great things can happen.Ponting also praised Suryakumar’s leadership and how he managed his players during the tournament. “It’s been really interesting to see how Suriya has interacted with Abhishek (Sharam) and Sanju (Sampson) over the last few weeks. This is where the real stories of real leadership will come out.”Despite not scoring major runs except for an unbeaten 84 against the United States national cricket team, Suryakumar led India to the title. “It’s about much more than what they do off the field, the things people don’t see and how they interact with their players. He didn’t have a great time as a player, but he still stands at the end holding the World Cup,” Ponting concluded.
