Sanju Samson finally came to the fore on the big stage for India with a stellar knock against the West Indies in the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup. However, the match had gone right down to the last over and the formidable West Indies kept striking at crucial intervals to keep India on tenterhooks. While Samson hit a six and a four off the first two balls of the last over to finish the chase off without raising too many alarms it was Shivam Dube who calmed the nerves of Indian fans before that. Shamar Joseph had dismissed Hardik Pandya with the second ball of the 19th over with India still needing 17 to win off 10 balls. Dube then came in and sent the first ball he faced through midwicket for four. The next ball was a dot as it went straight to the fielder at backward point but Dube found the gap between that position and short third man after that for another four. Head coach Gautam Gambhir pointed out that for him, those two shots from Dube were as important as the 97 off 50 that Samson finished on. Dube finished unbeaten on eight off four balls. (PTI Photo) “Glad you’re talking about every contribution because for many years, we’ve only spoken about certain contributions. This is a team sport, and this will always remain a team sport,” Gambhir told reporters. “For me, Shivam’s two boundaries are as important as Sanju’s 97 because if he hadn’t hit those two boundaries, you won’t even spoken about it (97-run knock). The big contribution makes headlines. The small contribution, the contribution that can help the team win, cross that line, are very important.” India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, whose 2/36 also went a long way in restricting West Indies below 200, had something similar to say after the match. “The two fours that Dube hit, it is in the cricketing books and stats, nobody will really appreciate that, but the people who really know cricket, the two fours really did not set the pressure on us because sometimes 8-9 runs in the last over, it can get tricky sometimes,” Bumrah said while speaking to ICC. ‘Always knew Samson would deliver’ Gambhir said that the team always had faith in Sanju Samson even when the latter got stuck in a bit of a rut in the matches leading up to the T20 World Cup and during the tournament itself before his match-winning innings against the West Indies on Sunday. “Obviously he had a tough series against New Zealand, so sometimes it’s important to give him a break as well, because you want to get the guy off that pressure situation as well. And we always knew that whenever we needed him in the World Cup game, he’ll come and deliver it for us,” Gambhir said.
‘For me, Shivam Dube’s two boundaries are as important as Sanju Samson’s 97’: Gautam Gambhir
