SA vs IND : Sanju Samson T220I century vs South Africa: Indian batsman Sanju Samson started afresh against South Africa from where he left off in the last T20 match against Bangladesh. With the help of the explosive innings of the 29-year-old wicketkeeper, India scored 202/8 against the hosts in the first T20.
SA vs IND : Century in second consecutive match
The Bangladeshi team had come to India before India’s tour of South Africa. In the third match of the series played in Hyderabad, he scored a century in 40 balls. Sanju Samson, who scored the first T20 century of his career with an innings of 111 runs in 47 balls, has now scored a T20 century in the second consecutive match. Now he has come jointly at number three with KL Rahul in terms of most centuries in this format. Former captain Rohit Sharma and current captain Suryakumar Yadav are jointly at the top position with four centuries each.
SA vs IND : Fourth batsman in the world to do so
Sanju Samson may have become the first Indian to score two consecutive T20I centuries, but overall he comes at number four in this list. Before Sanju, France’s Gustave Macken, South Africa’s Riley Russo and England’s Phil Salt have done such a feat.
SA vs IND : Sanju was in great form
When the South African team won the toss and called India to bat first, Abhishek Sharma opened the innings with Sanju Samson. Abhishek may have got out early, but Sanju made a great partnership with captain Suryakumar Yadav and then Tilak Verma. He thrashed the Proteas bowlers all around the field. He freely hit shots against spinners like Keshav Maharaj and Nkabayomji Peter.
SA vs IND : Journey from fifty to century in just 20 balls
Sanju Samson had completed his half-century in 27 balls, but played only 20 balls to score the next 50 runs. He completed his century by taking a single off Keshav Maharaj’s ball in the 15th over. With this, he broke Suryakumar Yadav’s record of the fastest T20 century for India against South Africa.
SA vs IND : Who is Sanju Samson ?
Touted as the next big thing from Kerala, Sanju Samson is a fine wicketkeeper batsman who is adept at batting and technique behind the stumps. A fan favourite and a consistent underperformer at the international level, Sanju Samson is interesting to study. After disappointing on several occasions, Samson’s achievements in the IPL and domestic level further highlighted his untapped potential at the highest level. He made his first-class debut for Kerala against Vidarbha at the age of 17 and made an impact almost immediately as he scored two centuries and a half-century in five matches the following season. He was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 but didn’t get to play a single match. Samson made his name in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals in 2013
He was the highest run-scorer for India and the only player in the team to score three fifties. In fact, he finished 6th in the list of highest run-scorers in the entire tournament despite India not qualifying for the semi-finals.
When Dravid was the mentor of the Royals in IPL-7, he praised Samson a lot and said that he is one of the current players who will do well for India in the near future. Consistent good performances in the IPL meant that Samson was selected for the Zimbabwe tour in 2015. He played his first T20 match for India, where he scored 19 runs.
Dravid once again showed his faith when he was the head coach of Delhi Daredevils and picked Samson in the 2016 IPL auction and the wicketkeeper repaid it by becoming the third-highest run-scorer for his team. During the 2014-15 season, the Kerala player had moved up the team so much that he was considered as the successor to MS Dhoni as the Indian team’s wicketkeeper. But sadly, his fortunes went downhill from then onwards.
Samson’s game hasn’t really taken off the way it should have given the natural talent he possesses. While he is capable of playing tremendous strokes all around the ground, his temperament remained that of a novice despite gaining experience in the domestic circuit. He had to wait 4 more years before making a comeback to the national team in 2019, but his comeback was disappointing. While his impressive performances in the IPL and at the domestic level meant he couldn’t be ignored, his disappointing performances at the international level meant he couldn’t hold on to his place. It wasn’t until 2024 that Samson was finally able to find some semblance of consistency. In the interim, he also played 16 ODIs and scored a century. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup but did not feature in any of the games. After the World Cup, Samson scored his first T20 century against Bangladesh and incidentally, it was the second-fastest T20 century for India.
Sanju Samson has become the first batsman to score two consecutive centuries for India in T20 International cricket. Against South Africa, Sanju scored the second century of his career in just 47 balls at the historic ground of Kingsmead. Before getting out, Sanju played a brilliant innings of 107 runs in 50 balls, which included seven fours and 10 sixes.
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