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Sanju Samson has long been recognised as a talented cricketer, which is why many were surprised by his inability to secure a consistent spot on India's white-ball teams. Sanju Samson's fortunes changed with the arrival of Gautam Gambhir as head coach. Under Gambhir's guidance, and with Suryakumar Yadav as captain, Samson was given a sustained opportunity to open the batting in T20Is alongside Abhishek Sharma.
How Gautam Gambhir's words instilled confidence in Sanju Samson
This new role didn't immediately yield results in the series against Sri Lanka. However, Samson found his form in the following series against Bangladesh and South Africa, where he went on to score three centuries. In a recent interview on Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel, Samson admitted that he felt discouraged after his early failures against Sri Lanka. He credited Gautam Gambhir for instilling confidence in him, which he believes was crucial to his subsequent success. During the chat, Samson, who currently captains the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, also shared details about his conversation with Suryakumar Yadav regarding his inclusion in the T20I squad.
“So, suddenly, the change happened after the T20 World Cup. So Gautam bhai came in, and Surya came in as the captain. I was playing a Duleep Trophy game in Andhra. Surya was playing for the other team. He told me, ‘There is a good opportunity coming up for you. We have seven games lined up, and I am going to give you all seven games as an opener’,” said Samson.
“The words coming out from the captain's mouth itself actually felt, Oh wow, great. I played two games in Sri Lanka but was unable to score runs. I was a bit down in the dressing room, and Gautam bhai came up to me and asked what had happened,” he added.
After struggling in the series against Sri Lanka, Sanju Samson was shocked by the words of head coach Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir told him that he would be given a fair opportunity and wouldn't be dropped from the team unless he recorded 21 ducks. This surprising show of faith and confidence from Gambhir was a pivotal moment for Samson, allowing him to play with more freedom and eventually find his form.
“I said, 'After a long time, I got a chance, but I failed to capitalise'. He said, 'So what? I'll drop you if you register 21 ducks'. That's the word which he used. That kind of confidence from the captain and the coach has definitely raised my confidence. That really helped me to go out there and perform,” Samson further stated.
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Samson has played 42 T20Is for India, amassing 861 runs with an average of 25.32 and a striking strike rate of 152.38. His T20I career includes three centuries and two fifties. His first international T20I hundred came against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, followed by two more tons against South Africa. In a recent interview with Ravichandran Ashwin, Samson candidly admitted that constantly being in and out of the national team had left him feeling frustrated. However, he noted that this all changed after the arrival of Gautam Gambhir as head coach and Suryakumar Yadav as captain.
“I know this thing, being on and off from the team and all those things were happening for a very long period of time, so honestly, I feel like it was not easy, and I think it was definitely not easy to have those kinds of feelings. Like I almost completed eight to nine years of my international career, but I only played 15 games or something. I always tried to keep myself in a very positive frame of mind. I always kept on telling myself, ’Okay, it will happen, but different people have different journeys. Yours is a different journey,” said Samson.
Now it will be interesting to see whether Samson gets a spot in India's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 which is slated to kick off from September 9
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