Sanju Samson achieved a rare feat through his unbeaten, match-winning 97-run innings against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last night. This was the first instance in the batsman’s T20 International and IPL career when he remained not out till the end of the innings during a run chase.
The Kerala-born was not at his best ahead of the start of Team India’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. Ahead of the series, when the Men in Blue brigade were facing New Zealand for the white-ball series, Samson was the first choice opening batsman along with Abhishek. Later, due to poor form, the team management dropped this batsman from the playing combination.
The opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan did not work.
The winner of the 2024 T20 World Cup dropped Samson from the first eleven and made a new opening pair with Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. Mainly due to Abhishek’s consistent low-scoring innings, the newly formed pair did not work as per plans. Meanwhile, Sharma has scored three ducks in three consecutive matches played in the group stage of the tournament.
After losing to South Africa, the team management started finding the best possible combination keeping in mind the poor form and inconsistency. Sanju Samson returned to the playing combination again. This time he came true. It was the experienced opening batsman who gave the team the much-needed victory.
A rare achievement for Sanju Samson
According to Cricbuzz, “Sanju Samson has opened 29 times in run chases in T20Is and IPL – this is the first instance of him remaining unbeaten till the end of the innings.”
Played an undisputed inning of 97 runs while chasing the target of 196 runs. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan both got out cheaply, scoring 10 runs each. Captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 18 runs from 16 and Hardik Pandya scored 17 runs from 14.
Tilak Verma supported the unbeaten opener in arguably the most significant way by scoring 27 runs in 15 balls. Samson remained at the crease, waiting all night for his special moment. To decorate the historic innings, the opener hit twelve fours and four sixes.
Samson pays tribute to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
While all the spotlight was on him, Sanju Samson remained humble and expressed his gratitude to some of the legends of the game like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. After the match, the opening batsman clarified that he learned about the art of run chase from some of these icons.
“There’s always a question – what if not? So of course it keeps running through your mind. But when that thought kept coming, I brought myself to the present moment, looked at the ball, and trusted myself to react to the best of my ability. I think it went quite well today”, Samson mentioned in the post-match presentation ceremony.
He said, “I have been playing this format for a very long time. Playing IPL for about 10 to 12 years and have been with the country for the last 10 years… I am not always playing, but I am watching from the dugout, learning from all the great players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma.”
read moreRohit Sharma is being compared with the former Pakistani captain due to Sanju Samson’s explosive innings.