ADVERTISEMENTThe batting slump he endured since the start of 2025 saw him slip to the middle-order to accommodate Shubman Gill for a while. His opportunity arrived against Zimbabwe as India reworked their batting plans at the start of their “knockout” matches. With only five innings in this World Cup, he is third on the tournament’s overall run-chart, with 321 runs. “When he was smacking it around, it was making things easier for me,” said Ishan Kishan, India’s second-highest scorer, 119 runs behind Samson. None perhaps has had such a telling influence in India’s successful World Cup campaigns since Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 and Yuvraj Singh in 2011.

Source: The Telegraph March 10, 2026 01:36 UTC