For all the talent he had, Sanju Samson disappointed everyone, including himself. The wicketkeeper batter debuted in 2015 and yet has played just 33 T20Is for India. When selected, he failed to showcase his talent. But it seems at 29, he’s finally figured it out. To be exact—October 12, 2024—that’s when he cracked the code. As they better late than never. However, not just Samson, but some credit goes to head coach Gautam Gambhir as well.
Samson repays Gambhir
Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid in Sri Lanka and gave Samson a chance. However, the response wasn’t great, two ducks. When the time came for the Bangladesh T20I series, Samson was nervous about getting dropped, but Gambhir backed him. In an interview with Vimal Kumar, the keeper batter revealed that he wanted to repay Gambhir for the faith that he’d shown in him.
Samson was asked, “As a kid, you wanted to impress Gambhir at Delhi’s LB Shastri Cricket Academy academy. Just recently, when you got your first T20I hundred, Gambhir as coach looked happiest for you.” To this, Samson responded:
“The relationship between coach and player is very important. When the coach trusts and backs you, you want to perform and show that you will repay the faith you have shown in me. I didn’t score big in the first couple of matches, and I was a bit hesitant to make eye contact with him. But I told myself that my time would come. So when I got that hundred in Hyderabad and Gauti Bhai (Gautam Gambhir) was clapping for me, I was very happy.”
