How Shashi Tharoor backed Sanju Samson from school days — and why he fears ‘history repeating’ in T20 World Cup final

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hopes that star opening batter Sanju Samson continues his winning performances and helps India lift the T20 World Cup it plays against New Zealand in Ahmedabad today.

Tharoor, who has been batting for Samson for quite some time, hopes that the batter from his home state, Kerala, makes a century in the final.

“Yes, I am excited. For me it’s been a happy tournament. Sanju began out of the team, came back into the team and has been star performer in last crucial two matches. Without his performance in match against West Indies, we would not have been in semi-final and without him, we would not have been in finals,” Tharoor a Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram, told news agency PTI.

"I am hoping he will continue the two good scores and this time he gets that three figure (century). I wish him luck for the crucial match,” Tharoor said.

Tharoor has been all praises for Samson after his brilliant knock guided the side to the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinals last Sunday. It was a special knock from Samson as he slammed 97 off just 50 deliveries to clinch the win for India in the crucial Super 8 clash against West Indies in Kolkata. The match was a virtual quarterfinal, and India looked in a spot of bother after losing two early wickets in their 196-run chase.

Tharoor has been Samson’s long-term and vocal supporter on social media, especially during phases where Samson faced limited opportunities or was dropped from the national side. Tharoor says he met Samson the first time when he was 14, when he was playing for a club in Trivandrum, and people at the nets seemed impressed.

“ I kept an eye on him and followed his early career. I met him and his father when he was still in high school. So I've really seen and followed his career from the very beginning and I remain a huge, huge fan of his. I really think he is an exceptional talent,” Tharoor said in a recent article in CricBuzz.

Tharoor believes that Samsun has never really been given a long enough chance to prove his worth. But the Congress leader says he thinks that, on the whole and in many ways, the experiences he's had have finally led him to the recent winning performances.

“So for all of these reasons, it's more than just the pride that every Keralite shares in him. It also helps that I am his MP and therefore he is my constituent. I have extra pride that somebody from my constituency has done well enough to play for India from the under-19 days. He has excelled for Kerala in all three formats. He just has not had the luck that he deserves,” Tharoor said in the Cricbuzz article.

The 31-year-old batter did not start in the Indian playing XI in the group stages, as his form had tapered off in the previous series against New Zealand. Before the West Indies match, Samson had played only against Namibia in the absence of Abhishek Sharma,

After Sunday’s win against West Indies, Tharoor took to social media to praise his effort and highlighted how Samson overcame setbacks to perform on such a big stage, saying how he had "suffered for" the cricketer due to his previous lack of opportunities and frequent exclusion from the national team.

India is scheduled to play New Zealand in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final today, today at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The last major final India played in Ahmedabad was the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia on 19 November 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium. India lost that match by six wickets

“You know last time he played final, we lost to Australia. I do not want to see history repeating itself,” Tharoor said.