Asia Cup: Gambhir is all smiles as Samson receives 'Impact Player' medal

Dubai [UAE], September 27 (ANI): India's wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson was bestowed with the 'Impact Player' medal after he engineered a counter-attacking knock against Sri Lanka in the final Super Fours fixture in Dubai at the ongoing Asia Cup.

After Abhishek Sharma's 61-run blitz from the top, boundaries started to dry up in the middle phase. Samson injected the much-needed impetus with his swift 39(23), laced with a solitary four and three towering maximums. His blitzkrieg in the middle laid the platform for India to post 202/5, the first 200-plus total at the Asia Cup 2025.

Follwoing India's Super Over win on Friday night, India's physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar presented the medal to in-form Samson. The 30-year-old expressed gratitude for the appreciation and vowed to give his best in the future. While Samson received the medal, India head coach Gautam Gambhir was in all smiles and applauded.

"Thank you so much. This might be a small one, but it really means a lot. This small appreciation really means a lot to all of us. I personally take a lot of pride to be in this dressing room, not easy, and we all do. Very happy to contribute and give my best as we all do, thank you so much," Samson said in a video posted by the BCCI.

Apart from his crucial display with the bat, Samson contributed with his clinical outing with the gloves. He stumped Kusal Perera on 58(32) off mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, to turn the tide in India's favour. During India's unbeaten campaign at the Asia Cup, Samson has garnered 108 runs at 36.00 while maintaining a strike rate of 127.05. He walloped 56, after being promoted to number three against Oman in the final group stage contest.

India will now face Pakistan in the final in Dubai on Sunday for the first time in the history of the T20 Asia Cup. In their last two encounters, India effortlessly gunned down the target set by Pakistan and will hope to end the tournament by lifting the title with an unblemished record.

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim. (ANI)

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