Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has hailed India's head coach Gautam Gambhir for Sanju Samson's 'purple patch' with the bat at the 2017 T20 World Cup. Samson was brought back into the lineup for the virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies, and he delivered a knockout blow to the Windies, slamming a stunning 97 in a high-pressure chase. He backed it up with a quickfire 89 off 42 balls in the semi-finals, helping India defeat England and advance to the final against New Zealand.
During a conversation on PTV Sports' 'Game On Hai' show, Akhtar stated that Samson's selection would not have been possible if Gambhir had not argued for his inclusion with team management.

"Samson has been on the Indian cricket circuit since 2014." When I was working in India around 2015, there was a lot of buzz around him. He had to wait a long time for consistent opportunities because India had wicketkeepers like MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, and others. Even now, Gambhir has battled with everyone to get into the team. Basically, his nomination was forced and subjected to extensive examination. "He didn't initially participate in the tournament," Akhtar stated in a video uploaded by Tapmad.

In this competition, Samson has scored 232 runs in four matches at an average of 77.33, with a strike rate of 201.73, two fifties, and a top performance of 97* against the West Indies in a virtual quarterfinal in Kolkata.
After scoring 89 runs against England, he tied batting legend Virat Kohli's record for most runs by an Indian in a T20 World Cup quarterfinal match. Virat had previously scored 89* in 47 balls against the West Indies in the semifinals of the 2016 T20 World Cup at the same venue.
Samson, with his 16 maximums this edition, went past Rohit Sharma's 15 sixes in the 2024 edition to have the most sixes by an Indian during a single T20 World Cup edition.