Sanju Samson finally broke the deadlock by scoring his first ODI ton in the third ODI against South Africa in Paarl on Thursday. That ended a long wait for the talented batsman to show his true potential with the bat.
Samson came out to bat at number three after the fall of Rajat Patidar’s wicket. He was slow to start, but little by little he built his innings. He finally scored a single to reach his 100th run, after which his celebrations were a joy to watch. The batsman felt relaxed and there was a satisfied smile on his face.
India scored 296/8 as Samson added two crucial stands, first with KL Rahul (21) with 52 runs and then a 108-run stand with Tilak Varma (52), who scored his first ODI fifty.
Arshdeep Singh then took 4/30 while Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan took two wickets each to defeat the hosts for 218. India won the match by 78 runs to win the series 2-1 and Samson was named Man of the Match.
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Being an Indian cricketer is a challenge: Sanju Samson
In a video shared by BCCI Twitter user, Sanju Samson spoke about his struggle with the national team in all formats and added that irrespective of the formats, he has tried to control the controllables.
“Being an Indian cricketer, and with all the pressure from the media and what’s happening on and off the field, it’s a big challenge to keep your mind in the present, being real. I like to focus on what is under my control. People may have different options, but it all depends on what you want to improve. Whatever setbacks I had, my failures and the selections I missed… I don’t like to complain like people who have done it for me,” Samson said in a video released by BCCI..
“I always look inside myself and ask myself, what else can I improve? Are you not patient enough? Aren’t you playing for merit? I worked very hard with the Kerala team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It’s about taking control of what is controllable and how much you can profit from,” Samson continued.
Samson has been the victim of recruiting conundrums over the years. He has been chosen in the wrong format due to his years in the World Cup. While he missed out on a World Cup spot in 2023, Samson was called up to the Indian ODI team in the South Africa ODI series in a year when the T20 World Cup will be played.
The management named him as a substitute during the Asia Cup last year and he did not play in the T20I series against Australia after the World Cup. Despite scoring just 510 runs in 16 ODIs, Samson has an average of 56.67 in ODIs and a strike rate close to 100. In T20Is, the average drops to 20, while the strike rate also drops dramatically to minus of 140. Samson did not play the T20I against South Africa and is also not part of the Test side.
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