Sanju Samson has been rated highly by successive team managements ever since making his T20I debut back in 2015, but blame it on the limited chances he got in international cricket or his failure to cash on to the opportunities, the Kerala batter with his unquestionable skill sets hasn’t been able to do justice to his potential till Saturday evening’s blockbuster knock in Hyderabad that helped India rout Bangladesh 3-0 in the three-match T20I series.
For the first time in his T20I career, he was entrusted to open the innings, and the right-hander was mediocre in the two innings, scoring 29 and 10, in Gwalior and Delhi respectively, before he got rid of the inner demons with a belligerent 111 in an exhibition of sublime hitting in Hyderabad.
“The leadership group – Suryakumar Yadav, Gautam Gambhir bhai and (assistant coach) Abhishek Nayar – told me three weeks before this series that I would be opening the innings. That gave me time for proper preparation. I went to the RR (Rajasthan Royals_ academy and faced lots and lots of new-ball bowlers. So I was coming in this series 10% more ready than any other series,” revealed Samson.
Samson, who until Saturday, had played only 32 matches, had only managed to score 483 runs at an average of 19.32 and a strike rate of 132.69. In the absence of India’s regular T20I openers, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal (both rested for the New Zealand Tests), Samson had the best chance to pull out something spectacular to stake his claim in India’s white-ball squads, especially the shortest format, and keep him relevant for India’s scheme of things in their preparation to defend the ICC T20 World Cup crown in 2026.
Samson’s knock, which incidentally was also the second-fastest T20I century for India, off 40 deliveries and paved the way for their highest total in the format, 297 for 6, did help him in restoring the faith shown in him by various leadership group in the Indian set-up.
From a wider perspective, there was hardly any pressure on Samson, with India already sealing the series 2-0, but from an individual point of view, it was a case of make-or-break for the batter, who has often been blamed for blowing away opportunities.
“When you are playing for the country and you fail in a couple of games, you know pressure is there. And I have to be honest, pressure was there. I wanted to perform. I wanted to show what I was capable of,” Samson said.
“The captain (Suryakumar Yadav) and the coach (Gautam Gambhir) kept telling me, ‘We know what type of talent you have, and we back you, no matter what.’ Not only in words but also in action. I was a bit doubtful after a couple of ducks in Sri Lanka if I would get a chance in the next series. But they backed me in this series,” he added.
Blessed with exceptional timing and technique to play the fastest bowlers, he was culpable perhaps of overreach sometimes, of trying too hard at others. However, it won’t be wrong to say that Samson was his biggest enemy while playing for India till Saturday. It took him an hour and a quarter and 47 deliveries, to change that perception, and answer his critics back with his batting pyrotechnics in Hyderabad. More importantly, he convinced himself that he belonged on the T20I stage with that knock of 111 of the best flowed from his beautifully crafted willow, including 92 in boundaries – 11 fours and eight sixes.
The destruction he is capable of wreaking is no secret anymore, and the pain can be best described by leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, who was clobbered for five sixes in his second over. More than brute muscle power, it was an exhibition of wondrous timing, and a display of sublime form of a batter who can make batting so effortlessly simple.
The innings could be the one that he needed to beat the inner demons that injects the confidence in him that he belongs to that level that he has often been rated. While he knew he was dangerously close to pressing the self-destruct button, he now needs is to keep delivering consistently, to keep himself relevant in an environment where there are a handful of youngsters in the pecking order waiting for their chances, when the five wise men sit to select India’s future white-ball squads.
“For me, it’s all about people, it’s all about my friends, it’s all about my team. I like to go out and succeed or fail in my own way. That is what I have stuck to right from the time I started playing this game. It’s all about knowing your game, knowing your character. It’s all about being true to yourself,” he summed up.