Rescuing the Indian team, wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson scored his first ODI ton in the third SA vs IND ODI match, being played at the Boland Park in Paarl. Samson, who played 108 innings off 114 balls, gave a perfect response to his critics who were bothering him about his poor performance.
Sanju Samson He completed his ton in the sixth ball of the 44th over, flexed his muscles and celebrated his first ODI hundred. Before this, Samson faced a lot of trolling from netizens when he scored 12 runs in the second match of the series.
Sanju Samson’s cricket career has not been easy as he has not gotten many opportunities and has not been able to take advantage of the opportunity he has received. Samson has been in and out of the team and now with his first ODI hundred, he will look to cement his place in the team.
Questions were raised about the Indian cricket team selectors when they dropped Sanju Samson from the squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Samson was picked as a substitute in the 2023 Asia Cup but was later dropped when KL Rahul returned.
Watch: Sanju Samson shows muscles after tremendous comeback century
A maiden international ton: Sanju Samson’s near perfect 💯
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While traveling with the Indian team to Sri Lanka for the opening matches of the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson was unable to sign an agreement with the county. Samson was also excluded from the Asian Games team and Ruturaj Gaikwad was named team captain.
Coming back to the match, the Indian cricket team did not start well as debutant Rajat Patidar was dismissed for 22 runs off 16 balls, while Sai Sudharsan could only score 16 runs after two consecutive half-centuries. KL Rahul also didn’t do much and came out with 21 runs.
It was Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson who added 116 runs off 136 balls for the fourth wicket in which apart from Samson’s hundred, Tilak scored 52 runs off 77 balls.
The Indian team will try to get a decent score in the first innings and aim to win the series against the Proteas. The ‘Men in Blue’ single-handedly won the first match in Johannesburg, while the Proteas put on a dominant performance in Port Elizabeth in the second match of the series.
The Indian team has dominated the white ball format so far in the year 2023 and also played the final of the ODI World Cup 2023. The Indian team was relentless throughout the tournament but could not clear the last hurdle and lost to Australia in the final.
The Indian team will play a two-match Test series starting December 26 against the Proteas and then return home to play Afghanistan in a T20I series.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled for next year, the Indian team will look to end their ICC title drought and win back the trophy once again after 2007.
