'Sanju Samson is the Most Loved Cricketer': Ex-India player compares Kerala boy with Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni's Fandom

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Sanju Samson's popularity is at par with the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and other Indian stars, former India player Dinesh Karthik has claimed.

Samson has made his mark in the T20 World Cup, most recently with a stunning knock against West Indies that helped India qualify for the semifinals.

The Kerala batter lost his place in the team at the start of the competition but has roared back to form and is set to play a pivotal role in the remainder of the tournament.

Samson anchored the innings with calm authority, building partnerships, rotating strike efficiently, and accelerating smartly on the large ground. His unbeaten 97 off 50 balls (12 fours, 4 sixes, strike rate 194) powered India to 199/5 in 19.2 overs, sealing a 5-wicket win with balls to spare. He finished with a boundary and six in the final over, earning Player of the Match.

This knock, surpassing Virat Kohli's previous Indian record for highest unbeaten chase score in T20 World Cups, marked a personal redemption after years of waiting and recent bench time.

Despite not being a regular in the Indian team, Samson has always garnered widespread love and fandom among the supporters. Whenever his name has been uttered by an Indian captain during toss, it has only brought a huge cheer, which was most recently evident at Chepauk, when the decibel limits reached another notch when Suryakumar Yadav announced his inclusion.

And Dinesh Karthik takes queue, opining that the Kerala boy has the same level of craze such as a Dhoni or a Kohli.

"Sanju Samson is a fantastic story, I feel. Yes, he played that wonderful innings. He is someone who has always been an enigma. People have loved him. He is, for me, the most loved cricketer. Virat [Kohli], Rohit [Sharma], [MS] Dhoni, he seems to have that kind of fan following. There is something about how he carries himself," Karthik said while speaking to Sky Sports.

At the start of the tournament, the Indian team management went with Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma at the top. And Karthik says he would have gone with Samson for matchup, as an abundance of southpaws in the Indian team has been an enigma.

"I would have gone for him purely for matchups. Off-spinners were really troubling India. They were constantly not getting those starts that they get. The pitches have been hard but they want to live up to the reputation and that did not work. Off-spinners troubled Abhishek," he added.

Sanju Samson T20 World Cup 2026

Sanju Samson has so far played three matches in this competition, and has scored 143 runs so far at an average of 71.5, while a strike rate of 195. The India batter scored 22 off just 8 deliveries against Namibia in the group stages, and then had a 24 off 15 against Zimbabwe in the other Super Eight match, before scoring the unbeaten 97 against the West Indies.