As dashing opener Sanju Samson emerged as the Player of the Series of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign in Ahmedabad on Sunday, back home in Trivandrum his mother, Liz Viswanath, couldn’t control her tears of joy. There might just have been a few tears due to her suffering too as Liz has been battling a severe chest infection for the last six days. But given a mother’s selflessness and resilience, her suffering didn’t matter one bit as she kept praying for her son’s success.

“I was trying to keep a tab on the final match and I saw Sanju scoring runs [he scored 89]. Later, I was even more happy to learn that my son was declared Player of the Series,” Liz told mid-day over the phone from their home in Trivandrum.