SA vs Ind, 1st T20I – 2024’s Sanju Samson meets 2013’s Rohit Sharma

A primarily middle-order batsman who was expected to be the next great batsman in Indian cricket but failed to capitalize on his opportunities before a move to the top of the order changed his fortunes.

It was before the first match of the Champions Trophy 2013 when Rohit was asked to open the innings. He had appeared as a batsman in T20Is and ODIs a few times before, but it was this foray in 2013 that gave new impetus to his mediocre career and made him India's permanent opener across all formats. This rise to the top was so crucial that in a press conference in 2018, Rohit even told the media to forget what had happened in his career before 2013 and only ask about the post-2013 period.

Although the format is different, Samson could well say the same about 2024.

Samson has batted at every position in the top seven at least once in 30 T20I innings since his debut nine years ago. Although he hasn't done himself any favors with his inconsistency, it hasn't helped that he doesn't have a set batting number in the XI.

That changed ahead of the T20I series against Bangladesh in early October. With Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill rested, Samson was promoted to open the series batting line-up. More importantly, it was a chance to revive his career in India, just like Rohit did all those years ago.

It was a classic Samson innings, as he has already seen in the IPL: start cautiously, assess the nature of the surface, overcome a few boundaries before putting the opposition in trouble. He scored 100 in his first six balls. Then in the third innings, one Keshav Maharaj came along, who went for four and six to give his innings the oomph it needed before giving Marco Jansen the same treatment. When the power play ended, Samson had moved to 35/20 with three fours and three sixes, but it was what he did after the power play that stood out.

Intention is a commonly used term in the Indian T20I dictionary of late. Samson ensured he walked his talk by scoring 72 runs off just 30 balls in the middle overs (seven off 16). While his first fifty took 27 balls, his next set took just 20 as he scored a 47-ball century, the fastest for an Indian batsman against South Africa.

The highlight of Samson's knock was the use of his crease against spinners. He went straight back at times, turned the long balls into short ones by peppering the outside, and whenever he saw the ball flying he ran down the track, reached the pitch and headed downtown in the V.

The pull (coincidence much?) was Samson's most productive shot of the day as he collected 43 runs from the deep midwicket region alone. Overall, Samson smashed the spinners for 58 runs off 27 balls while the fast bowlers managed 49 off 23 balls. When he fell, India were on course to score a total of over 200 runs.

Few players have had opinions as divided as Samson has over the years. In the flow, he makes hitting look ridiculously easy, like he did on Friday. During his batting, he hit ten sixes but not a single shot was played in anger. There was no mindless trampling, no switch-slamming or paddling or shoveling. It was just a clean, old-fashioned hitting of the cricket ball.

There were more misses than hits in Samson's career. He made his India debut in 2015 but did not play another game for five years. In between, he scored decent runs for Kerala and in the IPL for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and the Rajasthan Royals and was even named captain of the Royals in 2021, but appearances in India remained few and far between. Even when they came, Samson failed to make much of an impact, which he admits led to a lot of self-doubt.

“In my career I have had more failures than successes,” Samson said after the game. “When you experience such failures, you start to doubt yourself. People obviously say things, social media definitely plays a role, and then you start thinking about it too.”

“'Sanju, are you not suitable for the international level? You are doing well in the IPL, why isn't this happening at the international level?' [cricket]?' But after so many years of experience, I know my capabilities. If I spend some time in the middle, I know I have the ability to hit against spin and pace. And I know that I can contribute to the team's success and help them win a game.

“I kept telling myself, ‘No, it’s not like that. This is also a reality. There are a lot of downturns, but the upsides are really good too.'”

Samson also praised captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir, especially the way they communicated with him after he batted back-to-back against Sri Lanka in July.

“Communication during failure is also very important,” Samson said. “A player can get lost during his negative phase.

“During this time [after the ducks against Sri Lanka]I received many calls from Gautam bhai and Surya, who tells me what to work on. They said, “Your game against spin looks tricky, so gather the spinners in Kerala and practice on the rough wickets.”

“When the captain of the Indian team calls and tells you how to train after two ducks, then you know the captain is confident in you and wants you to do well. All these little things play a big role. I am very grateful for the trust shown in me and think that I was able to give it back to my team management.

Samson may have three more chances in this series and if he can maintain his form, the selectors could face a new headache when selecting a full-strength T20I squad. Gill and Jaiswal are the incumbents while Abhishek Sharma is also there, but if Samson manages to revive his India career as an opener, it would be poetic in a way that he does so in the spot vacated by Rohit.