Sanju Samson performed brilliantly in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rajasthan Royals. He scored 531 runs in 14 innings, averaging 48.27 and carrying a strike rate of 153.47. Because of that, he made a position in the list of India's T20 World Cup Squad 2024. Still, he did not get a single opportunity to play any match of the tournament though he was in the team. Samson scored his first T20I hundred recently. The wicket-keeper batter hammered 111 off just 47 deliveries in the third T20I against Bangladesh on October 12. The wicket-keeper batter revealed that he was almost close to playing in the final against South Africa in the T20 World Cup but did not get to play in the final as he was dropped at the very last moment. In an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar, Sanju said: "I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. However, they decided before the toss that we would go with the same team. I was like, no worries. I was in that type of mood." Watch the video here: 🚨🚨 Sanju Samson was all set to play in XI of T2OI WC Final as Rohit had told him the morning of final but at toss Rohit Sharma announced the same XI and in return he got "duck" from Rishabh Pant. Rohit then talked to Samson after toss for over 10 minutes and apologized. I… pic.twitter.com/lxGa0f7DsB — Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) October 21, 2024 Also Read | LA28 Olympics May Move Cricket Matches to New York Rohit Sharma Spoke to Samson Before Final Samson said it was the captain Rohit Sharma who spoke with him minutes before the toss in order to explain the decision. Though India might have won the final and successfully defended their second T20 World Cup title, this conversation kept raging inside his mind. India's middle order included Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shivam Dube and Rohit explained why Samson was left out from the playing XI right before the start of the match. Samson said: "During the warm-up, Rohit took me to the side and started to explain to me why he is making that decision. He was like, You understood, na? You know his way, very casual? I told him, 'Let us win the match and then talk.' You focus on the match." He added: "He came back one minute later and said, 'I know you are cursing me in your mind.' I think you are not happy. I feel like you have something on your mind. Then we had a discussion. I told him, 'As a player, I want to play'."