Pinarayi Vijayan heaped praise on Sanju Samson.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hosted Indian cricketer Sanju Samson at his official residence, Cliff House, in Thiruvananthapuram. The Chief Minister of Kerala heaped praise on Samson for his pivotal contribution to India’s victorious campaign in the 2026 T20 World Cup. In a post on X, Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his delight at hosting Sanju Samson, describing him as a source of pride for both India and Kerala, and wished him continued success in the future.
“I was delighted to host India’s pride and Kerala’s own Sanju Samson at Cliff House yesterday. I conveyed to him the deep love and joy of the people of Kerala. May he draw strength from his recent achievements and continue to scale new heights. My very best wishes to him,” he stated in the social media post. Sanju Samson played a crucial role in India’s World Cup victory and was named the ‘Player of the Tournament.’ Samson amassed a total of 321 runs across five innings in the tournament, averaging 80.25 with a strike rate of 199.37—an innings that included 27 fours and 24 sixes; he finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup. He also surpassed the record of 319 runs set by Virat Kohli in the 2014 T20 World Cup, thereby claiming the record for the most runs scored by an Indian in a single T20 World Cup edition.
Although Samson failed to register a significant score in his first two matches of the World Cup, the right-handed batsman unleashed a flurry of runs in the final Super-8 match—which effectively served as a knockout encounter—by scoring an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies. Subsequently, he scored 89 runs against England in the semi-final, and played another magnificent innings of 89 runs against New Zealand in the final. Speaking of the 2026 T20 World Cup, on March 8, India successfully defended their T20 World Cup title by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs. With this victory, India became the first team to win the T20 World Cup on home soil; the first team to win two consecutive titles following their 2024 triumph; and also the first team to lift the trophy three times (in 2007, 2024, and 2026).
