"No matter how...": Sanju Samson exposes Suryakumar Yadav's bold promise for 7 consecutive T20I opportunities

Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson smashed a magnificent hundred during the first T20I between South Africa and India at Kingsmead, Durban. It was an outstanding innings from the wicketkeeper-batter, who displayed his full range of strokes during his knock.

After the match, Samson was visibly pleased with his performance and India's emphatic win. He also thanked his captain Suryakumar Yadav for showing confidence in him, which helped him be assured of his role.

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Sanju Samson thanks Suryakumar Yadav after scoring a hundred

While speaking to Jio Cinema after the match, Sanju Samson revealed how India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav provided him the assurance of his opening spot in the team. He thanked Suryakumar for showing trust in him which gave him the confidence to do well.

"While I was playing Duleep trophy, Surya came to me & told 'you are going to open for India in the next 7 matches, no matter how much you score' - he was the one who gave me assurance, this kind of trust from captain gives you extra confidence," Samson told Jio Cinema.

Sanju Samson said "While i was playing Duleep trophy, Surya came to me & told 'you are going to open for India in the next 7 matches, no matter how much you score' - he was the one who gave me assurance, this kind of trust from captain gives you extra confidence". [JioCinema] pic.twitter.com/IkBuYwVDlA

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 9, 2024

Sanju Samson has been opening the batting for India since the T20I series against Bangladesh. He is likely to continue opening in the ongoing series with the young left-hander Abhishek Sharma.

Second successive T20I hundred for Sanju Samson

Samson scored 107 off 50 balls, which included 7 fours and 10 eye-catching sixes. It was his second successive hundred in as many games. His belligerent hitting made life difficult for the South African bowlers who didn't have an answer for him.

It was a knock filled with some clever hitting and making good use of the talent he possesses. Despite wickets falling on the other hand, he stayed at one end and kept a check on the run rate.

Samson was finally dismissed off the 16th over of the innings when he was caught by Tristan Stubbs off the bowling of Nqabayomzi Peter. His innings propelled India to a brilliant first-innings score of 202-8. Other than him, Tilak Varma scored a valuable 33 off 18 balls.

South Africa fumbled in the run-chase

Chasing a big target, South Africa were rocked early by Arshdeep Singh. The Proteas' innings did not gather momentum at any time as they never looked ahead in the run-chase. India's spinners were on song as they shared six wickets between them.

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy picked up 3-25 while legspinner Ravi Bishnoi finished with 3-28. India lead the four-match T20I series 1-0 and Sanju Samson was named Player of the Match for his outstanding century.

Samson endured a tough time in international cricket for a long part of his career. But it seems that his career is finally turning into a positive turn now with two successive hundreds in T20I cricket.