Sanju Samson credited Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar. Photo: AP/PTI
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Sanju Samson scored a century in 3rd T20I against Bangladesh
- Samson was struggling prior to his century
- Samson bagged two ducks against Sri Lanka
Sanju Samson was probably playing for his place in Team India when he stepped on the field for the third T20I against Bangladesh. The wicketkeeper-batsman was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup squad but remained on the bench. He finally got a long rope after the ICC event. After the Zimbabwe series, Samson travelled to Sri Lanka.
The right-handed batsman had a golden opportunity to impress the new team management but he bagged two back-to-back in as many matches. Following his century in 3rd T20I against Bangladesh, Samson poured his heart out and said that he had doubts over his place following his ducks against SL.
Samson credited Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav for backing him and revealed that they had told him three weeks in advance that he would open the innings against Bangladesh.
Samson poured his heart out after a century in Hyderabad and said: "Like I was in doubt after a couple of ducks in Sri Lanka will I be getting a chance. Mentally you go through a lot as an individual as an Indian cricketer, especially in this format where failures are much higher than success as a batsman you have to keep being aggressive and keep looking at the scoring options. The risk is high and when the risk is high there are a lot of failures also.
"The captain and the coach have been backing me like anything. in the next series but they backed me and kept saying we will keep backing you no matter what. Three weeks before the series I was very fortunate to get a message from the leadership group that I will be opening. So that gave me time for proper preparation."
Samson did get a start in the first T20I but he failed to convert it into a big one and departed for 29. He managed a score of 10 in the second game. Samson lived up to the promise in the third T20I and etched his name in history books by becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a century in T20Is.
India missed out on breaching the elusive 300-run mark and finished at a score of 297. They restricted the visiting team to 164, winning the game by a 133-run margin. Samson is now confirmed to be part of the South Africa T20I series.
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