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Sanju Samson was to play the T20 World Cup final.
Then, Skipper Rohit Sharma changed his mind.
In typical Rohit style, he then spent 10 minutes explaining to Sanju why he was being excluded from the playing eleven.
Sanju Samson has disclosed that he was set to play in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, but was dropped from the playing XI just before the toss.
The wicket-keeper batter revealed that Captain Rohit Sharma informed him of the decision and provided an explanation.
'I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. However, they decided before the toss that we would go with the same team. I was like, no worries. I was in that type of mood,' Samson told journalist Vimal Kumar in an interview.
Rishabh Pant was retained as India's 'keeper-batter throughout the tournament. While he impressed in the group stage, his performance declined in the later stages. Samson revealed that Rohit informed him of his exclusion from the final during the warm-ups, but later returned to explain the decision.
'During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he is making that decision. He was like, "You understood, na?" You know his way, very casual?. I told him, "Let us win the match and then talk. You focus on the match",' Samson said.
'He came back one minute later and said, "I know you are cursing me in your mind. I think you are not happy. I feel like you have something on your mind." Then we had a discussion. I told him, "As a player, I want to play".'
Samson expressed regret at not being able to play a World Cup final under Rohit's captaincy and highlighted how Rohit's decision to spend time with him before the toss, instead of focusing on the players who were going to feature in the final, touched his heart.
'Since childhood, I wanted to come here and do something. Then he was like, "My pattern is like this" and all that. I said "I totally respect that you came and explained it to me. I said, "I will have a regret; I could not play a World Cup final with a leader like you. This will be a regret in my heart that I missed a World Cup final with a leader like Rohit Sharma. That will stay in my life", Samson stated.
'After this, I thought, such a big thing like a World Cup final. Before the final, you have changed your decision. You spent 10 minutes with the player that is not playing just before the toss. He gave me 10 minutes before the toss. After that, I got to know this person has some other qualities.'
'If I were in their place, I would be thinking about the players who are playing or my batting. I will explain to Sanju later; that is what normally you think. At that point, he thought, 'I have to explain to Sanju, why I took that decision.' At that point, he won a place in my heart that will stay for a lifetime.'