The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday hosted the annual Naman Awards in New Delhi, where the country’s five ICC World Cup-winning teams from the 2025/26 season were honoured. Among them was the Suryakumar Yadav-led side that lifted the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The T20 World Cup champions were the final team to be called on stage as the BCCI rolled out the red carpet for each of the title-winning squads. As the players queued up to walk onto the stage, KL Rahul — who was present at the ceremony and had earlier been honoured as part of the Champions Trophy-winning side — called out to Sanju Samson.
Initially unaware of who had called him, Samson soon realised it was Rahul and broke from the queue to walk straight to his teammate before embracing him.
The brief moment between the two stars quickly caught the attention of fans and soon went viral on social media.
Samson was named Player of the Tournament in the 2026 T20 World Cup after a historic campaign, scoring 321 runs at a strike rate close to 200 in just five innings to guide India to the title.
Despite not featuring regularly early in the tournament, Samson produced a stunning 97 not out in the must-win Super 8 clash against the West Indies before hammering 89 in the semifinal against England and repeating the same score in the final against New Zealand.
Speaking to broadcasters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Samson likened India’s triumphant run in the tournament to a movie and admitted that the achievement had still not fully sunk in.
“Not yet. Even when I wake up in the morning, I’m like, ‘Has it really happened?’ So honestly, that’s the feeling,” Samson said while reflecting on India’s triumph.
The wicketkeeper-batter also asserted that India are well placed to continue dominating global cricket in the years to come.
“But I feel that in the coming years, with the quality of players we have in our country, this will be repeated. It’s not going to be something that happens once in a while. The kind of players coming through means India will do this more and more often,” he added.
