Sanju Samson gave a perfect start to India in their T20 World Cup match against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, February 12. The right-handed batter got off the mark for a six on his T20 World Cup debut before smashing Ben Shikongo for back-to-back maximums in the next over.
Samson’s power-packed batting display was put on display in the second over of India’s innings. Shikongo bowled a short delivery, and Samson flicked that towards backward square for a six into the crowd. The pacer repeated a similar delivery, and Samson smashed it for an even bigger six. He followed that up with a boundary but lost his wicket off the last delivery.
Watch the video below (4th and 5th slides):
Sanju Samson smashed 22 runs off eight balls at a strike rate of 275, including three sixes and one boundary. The wicketkeeper-batter got an opportunity as Abhishek Sharma was out of the playing XI due to illness. The latter remains doubtful for the high-voltage clash against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday, February 15.
Sanju Samson departs after giving a cracking start to India
Sanju Samson departed after giving India a cracking start against Namibia in the T20 World Cup 2026 match. Despite his early wicket, the home team remains the favorite to win the game.
At the time of writing, the hosts were 43/1 after four overs, with Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma at the crease.
Defending champions, India, beat the USA by 29 runs in their opening game. Suryakumar Yadav impressed with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 84 off 49 balls, while Mohammed Siraj bagged three wickets. They are aiming to win their third T20 World Cup trophy. The Men in Blue haven’t won a bilateral series since the last edition of the ICC event. During that period, they also won the Asia Cup 2025 trophy.
On the other hand, Namibia lost to the Netherlands by seven wickets in their opening game of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Follow the IND vs NAM T20 World Cup 2026 match live score and updates here.
Edited by James Kuanal
