Sanju Samson has restarted his career with maiden international ton: Gautam Gambhir

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes Sanju Samson has effectively “rebooted” his international career after his maiden century in the 3rd ODI against South Africa in Paarl on Thursday. Samson played an impactful knock of 108 off 114 balls and played a huge role in India’s 78-run victory, securing a 2-1 series win. Despite this effort, Gambhir is not sure if Samson will still be an automatic choice for India, given the abundance of options in the team.

“But today through this knock, somewhere he has kickstarted his international career. Before this, he always received sporadic chances - sometimes he would get a game, something he would be left out. But when you score a 100, you not only impress the selectors but even put pressure on them to pick you,” Gambhir said while talking to Star Sports.

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Samson made his debut for India in 2015, the 29-year-old Samson faces the challenge of consistently performing well to secure his place until the next World Cup in 2027 when he will be 33. Gambhir believes that with four years remaining, Samson could be a valuable batter-wicketkeeper option as India looks to move ahead after this transition.

The former India player feels Samson, due to his quality as a player, especially considering his role as a middle-order be a great wicket-keeper option.

“Still, the kind of quality player Samson is, I feel he should be persisted with. With his keeping, you have a very good option in the middle order. India will always have a strong and heavy top order but Samson will always give you that option in the middle. With this knock, Samson has restarted his career,” Gambhir added.

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Even during this innings, Samson started slowly and then slowly opened his shoulders when he accelerated in the latter part of his innings, scoring 52 runs in the last 34 balls he faced. Gambhir believes Samson’s experience, gained from playing domestic and T20 cricket, as well as captaining in the IPL, helped him strategically handle pressure and switch gears seamlessly.

“He has played so much domestic cricket, T20 cricket, captained in the IPL, so he knows how to absorb pressure. Stuff like which bowler you plan to take on and those calculations are not easy. He started off slowly before he started to keep the scoreboard ticking and, in the end, went after,” Gambhir said.