IND vs SA: Sanju Samson Opens Up On Repeated Selection Snubs After Maiden ODI Ton

Sanju Samson finally broke the deadlock as he scored his maiden ODI ton in the third ODI against South Africa in Paarl on Thursday. That ended a long wait for the talented batter to display his true potential with the bat.

Samson walked out to bat at number three after the fall of Rajat Patidar’s wicket. He was slow to start off but gradually went on to build his innings. He finally scored a single to get to his 100th run after which his celebrations were a treat to watch. The batter felt relaxed and there was a smile of satisfaction on his face.

India went on to score 296/8 as Samson added two crucial stands first with KL Rahul (21) off 52 runs and then a 108-run stand with Tilak Varma (52) who scored his maiden ODI fifty.

Arshdeep Singh then took 4/30 while Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan took two wickets each to bowl out the hosts for 218. India won the match by 78 runs to win the series 2-1 and Samson was named the Men of the Match.

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Being An Indian Cricketer Is Challenging: Sanju Samson

In a video shared by BCCI’s Twitter handle, Sanju Samson opened up on his struggle with the national team across formats while adding that regardless of the formats, he has tried to control the controllables.

“Being an Indian cricketer, and with all the media pressure and what goes on and off the field, it is very challenging to keep your mind in the present, being real. I like to focus on what’s in my control. People might have different choices but it’s all about what you want to improve. Whatever setbacks I had, my failures, and whatever selections I missed out on… I don’t like to complain like the people who have done for me,” Samson said in a video posted by BCCI.

“I always look within myself and ask, what else can I improve? Are you not patient enough? Are you not playing on the merit? I worked really hard with the Kerala team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It’s all about taking control of the controllable, and how much you can capitalize on,” Samson said further.

Samson has been a victim of selection conundrums over the years. He has been picked in the wrong format due to World Cup years. While he missed out on a World Cup slot in 2023, Samson was recalled into the Indian ODI side in the South Africa ODI series in a year when the T20 World Cup will be played.

The management named him as a backup during the Asia Cup last year and he did not play in the T20I series against Australia after the World Cup. Despite scoring just 510 runs in 16 ODIs, Samson has an average of 56.67 in ODIs and a strike rate close to 100. In T20Is, the average drops down to 20 while the strike rate also falls dramatically to lower than 140. Samson did not play the T20Is against South Africa and is not a part of the Test side as well.

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