Indian wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has revealed how India coach Gautam Gambhir’s mentorship during his early days in the IPL at Kolkata Knight Riders and the Indian cricket setup helped shape his approach to the game. Sanju Samson now appears to be in pole position to become India’s T20 opener following the dual retirements of Kohli and Sharma after the T20 World Cup victory earlier this year. Sanju Samson’s three centuries in four T20Is against Bangladesh and South Africa have firmly signaled his intent to secure that spot.
The Indian T20I opening batter, Sanju Samson still is struggling to figure out what exactly is the reason behind his rise to form. The star batter from Kerala Sanju Samson, after struggling to make a spot in the T20I side, has now discovered his best run of form, cementing his position at the top of the order in the Suryakumar-led side.
Sanju Samson Finally Coming of Age in T20 Cricket
Sanju Samson is finally showcasing his true prowess with the bat and making his mark in T20 cricket. He had a brilliant IPL and is amongst India’s highest impact batters in 2024 in the format. Sanju Samson has hammered two international T20 hundreds this year and has been at his destructive best.
Samson has returned with fairly consistent returns in the IPL since 2017. In each of the seven seasons from 2017 till 2023, he has scored in excess of 300 runs at an average varying 27.5 and 40 and a strike rate between 136.7 and 158.9. But there was no one season where he scored big and did so at an alarming scoring rate. Samson scored 484 runs in 2021 at an average of 40.3 but at a slightly underwhelming strike rate of 136.7.
He had an average of 34.2 and strike rate of 148.7 in 2019 which in terms of a combination of average and strike rate, was his best year in the IPL. But it was still not a WOW season! Samson scored at a rate of 158.9 in 2020 – which remains his best scoring rate for any season – but the average was slightly below par at 28.8. Last season, he again struck at 153 but had as many as eight failures in his 14 innings!
Then came 2024. Sanju Samson started the year with a bang with a magnificent unbeaten 82 off just 52 deliveries against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur and never looked back! He hammered four more fifties in the season with his best knock a scintillating 86 off 46 deliveries against the Delhi Capitals, albeit in a losing cause in Delhi. Samson was the lone warrior in the match even as every other RR batter failed around him.
Sanju Samson’s five fifties in the season were his most ever in a single edition of the IPL. He ended IPL 2024 with an aggregate of 531 runs (his highest aggregate in a season) in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 – his best ever in a season – at a scoring rate of 153.5 (second-best ever in a season). Overall, it was, by some distance, Sanju Samson’s most prolific year in the IPL.
Sanju Samson hit 72 boundaries in the season – his most ever. He spent more time at the crease as indicative from a balls per dismissal ratio of 31.5 – again the highest ever for him in a season. While he attacked the pacers and struck at 162 against them in the season, he was brilliant against spin too rotating the strike and finding the gaps. His dot ball percentage against the slower bowlers was just 20% – his lowest ever in any season.
Sanju Samson’s breakthrough year in international T20 cricket in 2024
Sanju Samson represented India in just one solitary T20I in 2015 and then did not play for the country till 2020. He had a torrid time in 2020 and 2021 scoring just 98 runs in nine innings at an average of 10.88. Sanju Samson raised the level of his performance in 2022 scoring 179 runs at a rate of 158.4 but failed miserably in the following season in 2023. He could muster 78 runs in six innings in the calendar year at an average of 15.6 and scoring rate of 127.86 with four failures in six outings.
Sanju Samson credits Gautam Gambhir after tasting belated success in international cricket
Team India wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for his recent success in international cricket, after years of inconsistent performances at the top level. The Kerala cricketer hailed the Gambhir for backing him to the hilt and giving him the confidence to express himself.
Samson (30) made his international debut in 2015 against Zimbabwe in Harare but was constantly in and out of white-ball squads for the next few years. His breakthrough performance came when he smashed his maiden international ton in an ODI against South Africa in Paarl in December 2023. Incredibly, the right-handed batter has scored three tons in his last five T20I innings.
Speaking to AB de Villiers on the latter’s YouTube channel recently, Samson acknowledged the significant role that the current Indian head coach has played in his success. He said:
“When he came to the Indian team, in the dressing room he told me ‘Sanju, I know what you have. You have something special. I am going to be back you no matter what’. He told me to walk in, go out there and express myself in every innings. That kind of communication from the coach, that gave me clarity and confidence.”
The keeper-batter added that he was extremely disappointed over his failures because he was keen to repay the faith shown in him by the head coach.
“After few games of dismissals, you feel pressure because you have a guy who’s backing you and you are not performing. I thought ‘common Sanju, you need to show something and repay the faith the coach has in’,” the keeper-batter explained.
“By God’s grace, something special has happened. I want to continue scoring runs and win games for my country,” the talented 30-year-old went on to add.
Sanju Samson has so far featured in 16 ODIs and 37 T20Is. He has scored 510 runs in one-dayers at an average of 56.66. In T20Is, he has 810 runs at an excellent strike rate of 155.17.
Sanju Samson reflects on long association with Gambhir
Before international cricket, Samson and Gambhir knew each other due to the Indian Premier League (IPL). His first IPL team was Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) of which Gambhir is a former captain. Reflecting on his long association with Team India’s head coach, the Kerala cricketer said:
“Yeah, it has been. I had a decent relationship with Gautam Gambir right from a young age. My first IPL team was KKR. When I was 14, they picked me on their B team. At the age of 17, I made it to the KKR main side and that was when KKR won the Championship under Gautam Gambhir.”
Samson currently captains Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL. In 168 matches in the T20 league, he has scored 4,419 runs at an average of 30.68 and a strike rate of 138.96, with three hundreds and 25 fifties.