Ahmedabad: “When Suryakumar called me a few months back to tell me about my selection in the World Cup squad, he asked me, ‘World Cup jitayega kya? (can you win the World Cup for us?)’, Ishan Kishan said. “I just asked him back, ‘(bharosa karoge kya? (will you trust me?)’ and he said ‘yes, I will trust you.”
Among the extraordinary performances from a list of champion players during India’s World Cup win, there are tales of tremendous grit and courage shown by a few who were battling form. Three stories stand out – Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma.
Just a couple of months from the World Cup, Kishan was nowhere in the team management’s scheme of things. Just ahead of the tournament, Samson lost his confidence—in every innings, he was like a cat on a hot tin roof. The biggest setback, however, was star opener Abhishek losing his rhythm when the actual tournament began.
In the end, all three delivered, making an impact at different stages of the tournament. Behind their success was the backing shown by the selectors, coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar. It was a feature of India’s successful campaign.
Samson ended up as the Player of the tournament with 321 runs, winning man of the match in the do-or-die game against West Indies and the semifinal. Kishan aggregated 317 runs.
The three led India’s batting charge in the final against New Zealand. Samson and Abhishek gave a dream start of 98, with Samson scoring 89 off 46 balls. Abhishek scored the tournament’s fastest fifty, in 18 balls, while Kishan smashed a 25-ball 54.
“What I saw in this team when I came was that, yes, there was pressure, but there was no fear as a result of that pressure; there was confidence instead. That’s why coming to Ahmedabad again (after losing the 2023 ODI World Cup final), the team did not feel burdened by history. Everyone was working hard on an individual level and the team morale was very good, something I credit the head coach and captain for achieving. The biggest example, again, was how they dealt with Abhishek. They never doubted him and never let his lean form off the field affect how he was viewed inside the team environment,” said Kishan.
Abhishek had arrived at the tournament with the tag of the player to watch out for. But the tournament proved to be a lesson for the opening batter in how this sport can test you in different ways. He went through the worst nightmare of starting with three ducks in a row. He had just one fifty to show for in the tournament. It had made him doubt his own game, but the captain and coach stood by the player.
To change his luck in the final, Abhishek revealed that he batted with Shivam Dube’s bat.
“When I was not making runs, everyone in the team wanted me to get among the runs again,” Abhishek said, having scored 52 off 21 balls. “In that sense, the company around you matters a lot. When I wasn’t able to contribute, everyone was saying ‘you’ll do it.’ I was struggling with self-doubt, but it was the players, coaches and support staff that had belief in me,” the left-hander said. “I got emotional in the middle of the tournament and wanted to talk to the coach and captain and they said you’ll win us the big games.”
Kishan said his half-century was extra special because he was batting amid a personal crisis: the loss of his cousin sister just a day before the final.
“I was not planning to say this, but I lost my cousin sister yesterday in a car accident. I got to know during the practice session. She always wanted me to score big runs. But today was a big day, rather than keeping my emotions, I just thought, ‘the best thing I can do is I can score runs for her’, and that’s why I looked up after scoring my fifty. It was for my sister, her family and my very close friends,” said Kishan.
“I was not feeling well mentally before the final, but I spoke to Hardik bhai. He said it won’t be easy, but he reminded me it’s a team sport so we need to lift each other up for the team’s cause. I had that anger inside me in the final to perform.”
The story of the World Cup was undoubtedly the resurrection of Samson. After being announced as the first-choice opener by the selection committee, he endured the disappointment of losing his spot in the playing XI after a lean run in the five match T20I series against New Zealand.
“After the NZ series I was broken, my dreams were completely shattered. And I was thinking what can I do. But God had different plans. And I was rewarded for being brave enough to dream,” said Samson at the presentation ceremony after receiving his award for the player of the tournament.
“A lot of former players have reached out to me and tried to help me out. For the last couple of months, I have been in constant contact with Sachin (Tendulkar) sir. I reached out to him and had big big conversations with him. Getting a guidance from someone like him, what more can you ask for? I am very grateful for everyone who supported me. (What more does he want to achieve?) This itself is very big for me, I want to enjoy it right now and then after a few day will figure out what more to do.”
