What is the real value of Sanju Samson's maiden international ton?

India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson ticked one of the major boxes in the bucket list, with a fine century against South Africa in the third and final ODI in Paarl on Thursday. Although Samson still has a long way to go in his cricketing career, Thursday’s knock was somewhat about completing a redemption arc, given the stop-start career he has had in international cricket. Reaching new heights is important for any player in any sport in their playing career, and for Sanju, there was no better time to do so. Especially after all the hardships he has gone through this year — a knee injury during the first T20I against Sri Lanka to missing out on a spot in India’s squad for the ODI World Cup. Also read: Sanju Samson's million-dollar reaction after scoring his maiden international hundred Given his experience of leading and playing for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sanju Samson has been touted by some to become a T20I expert, but with the 2024 T20 World in West Indies and USA just six months away and the race for spots in the Indian team already heating up, it seems as though the Kerala cricketer is far from contention for next year’s showpiece tournament. His inconsistencies in T20Is have not helped Samson’s case. Since making his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in July 2015, Samson has played only 24 matches in the shortest format for India and managed just a lone fifty (Against Ireland in 2022). Although Samson is a different kind of beast when it comes to representing RR in the IPL, the same cannot be said of his exploits in T20Is. Sanju Samson's match-winning 'hundred is going to change his career': Sunil Gavaskar However, if there’s one format where the 29-year-old can switch his focus towards, it’s the one-dayers. He may have missed out on a spot in this year’s World Cup squad, but with the next ODI World Cup only in 2027 in South Africa, there’s still a long way to go and one would hope that his series-clinching century for the Men in Blue was just the start of something special. Having said that, it is important to look at the bigger picture here. While one may look at Samson’s century in the third ODI at face value, the real value of his ton will be about potentially taking over as the number three role in the Indian team. It’s no secret that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s days in ODI’s might be numbered, which means that the team management would look to groom a new, young generation of cricketers well ahead of the next 50-over World Cup. That has already been witnessed in the just-concluded ODI series against South Africa, with the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma getting some game time. Even B Sai Sudharsan, who made his international debut in the first ODI, showed promise with two consecutive fifties in the series. Out of the 16 ODIs he has played, Samson has batted at No 3 on only three occasions, aggregating 163 runs at an average of 54.33. 108 of these runs, though, came in the third over, but coming to bat at one down might benefit Samson and the team if he continues to produce similar results to the one that he made on Thursday. Samson, though, faces stiff competition to potentially become a No. 3 batting prospect in ODIs in the long term. Tilak Varma was briefly experimented as the number three batter recently, and Shreyas Iyer has played 13 of his 59 ODIs in that position, having scored 694 runs at an average of 57.83. Samson, however, has shown why he is one of the best candidates for the number three batter’s spot. While he has struggled with shot selections and timing previously in ODIs, Thursday was a good example of what Samson can do when he is in the groove. Samson was patient with his approach and was well aware of the match situation. It was more about the timing of his shots than the nature of them, that is, it never mattered how the shot came off Samson’s bat until and unless he executed those shots well. Sunil Gavaskar, former India cricketer, seemed to agree with the fact that Sanju Samson was biding his time. “The standout for me from this innings was his shot selection. In the past, he has gotten out despite getting starts. Today, you couldn’t fault him at all, he was biding his time, waiting for the bad ball, and then getting a hundred. I think this hundred is going to change his career. One, he will get more opportunities because of this hundred,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports. Gavaskar was spot-on with his take on Samson’s knock. Samson took 66 deliveries to get to his fifty and took time to settle down at the crease. He got to his half-century with just four boundaries to his name but slightly accelerated in the second half of the innings with two more fours and a couple of sixes as he eventually got to his century in 110 balls. Most importantly, Samson did not panic on Thursday nor did he show signs of nervousness. It is exactly this kind of character that a number three India batter must have in ODIs and Samson showed perfectly how it’s done. Simply put, Samson’s knock in Paarl was a watershed moment not just for himself but also looking at the grander scheme of things for Team India. Maybe, just maybe, the selectors now have a happy headache ahead of them following Samson’s superlative century.