Gautam Gambhir on Sanju Samson’s First International Century: “He Has Kickstarted His International Career”

After scoring a century in the third One-Day International, veteran Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes that Sanju Samson’s career has taken off, but it would be intriguing to see how India uses him going forward. On a difficult batting surface against South Africa, the colorful wicketkeeper blossomed in the anchor position and produced a decent knock to help India record a formidable total.

The 29-year-old, who batted at number three, scored 108 runs off of 114 balls, six fours, and three sixes. He never seemed rushed and played a good innings-length game while other Indian hitters could not turn a strong start into a significant score. Since he bats there for both his home team and the Rajasthan Royals of the Indian Premier League, it was the perfect hitting position for him.

As Samson attempted to escalate the situation, skier-off pacer Lizaad Williams was caught by Reeza Hendricks within the rings, and he was disqualified on 108.

Speaking about Samson’s knock, Gambhir said that it launched his international career.

His brilliance is well-known to all of us. Given the kind of innings he has played in the IPL, not just us but everyone has spoken about it. But now, in spite of this setback, he has managed to launch his worldwide career. Prior to this, he was only given occasional opportunities; sometimes, he would be excluded from a game. However, Gambhir told Star Sports that when you get a 100, you not only wow the selectors but also put pressure on them to choose you.

But with less emphasis on ODI matches, Gambhir thinks it would be intriguing to see how the Indian management continues to use Samson going forward.

It remains to be seen, however, whether India will continue to work with him beyond this century since the next World Cup is not for another four years. Nevertheless, given Samson’s caliber as a player, I believe more should be done with him. You have an excellent middle-order option with his keeping. Samson will always provide you with that middle option, even if India will always have a powerful and hefty top order. “Samson’s career has been rejuvenated with this knock,” he said.