'The way he led…': Sanju Samson drops colossal statement on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson finally gave the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans the innings they were waiting for in the ongoing IPL 2026. After a poor start to IPL 2026, Sanju Samson came back in style and played one of the best knocks of the season so far.

The right-handed batter was in complete control in Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2026 clash against Delhi Capitals on April 11 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He smashed an unbeaten 115 off 56 balls and powered Chennai Super Kings to their first win of the season.

Sanju Samson takes Chennai Super Kings to first win of IPL 2026 with match-winning century

The way Sanju Samson built his innings was special, as he didn’t go all out from the start. Instead, he took his time, found gaps, and played smart shots. He hit 15 fours and 4 sixes, but interestingly, most of his early runs came from boundaries along the ground.

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Once he got settled, he started attacking freely. With this knock, Samson created history, surpassing MS Dhoni’s previous best score for CSK, and became the first regular wicketkeeper to score a century for the team in the IPL.

This century feels a bit special: Sanju Samson

After the match, the Kerala star has described his Chepauk century as “special” as compared to his rest three centuries. Sanju Samson said in a video posted by IPL on its official website, "I have scored a few hundred in this format, but this one feels a bit special.

Scoring in Chepauk, in front of the home crowd. I didn’t have a proper start, but now I know that I have settled and everything is nice. I never wanted to leave the main ground and wanted to contribute as much as possible. So, I’m very happy.”

Samson silences critics, says he wanted to give something back to CSK

Addressing the criticism and questions raised after his three failures at the start of this season, the Kerala star stressed that he never wanted to prove himself to anyone but wanted to give something back to the franchise. Noted, CSK traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to Rajasthan Royals to bring Samson on board last year.

So, Sanju stayed calm, took his time, and played according to the situation, saying he knew how to bounce back, having gone through ups and downs in his career.

Samson further added, “They have trusted me; they have done their biggest trade ever in the IPL history. So, I kind of felt, ‘Okay, Sanju, you need to put your hand up and say, okay, I am going to win a game for you guys.' So, that feeling was there. I have failed a lot; I have a lot of setbacks, so I knew how to come back.”

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Sanju Samson hails Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy vs DC

He also hailed CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy and young bowling attack for restricting Delhi Capitals to 189 runs in 20 overs while defending 212 runs in Chennai. Jamie Overton was the hero for CSK with the ball, finishing the match-winning spell of 4/18 in his 4 overs.

Samson signed off by saying, “I think chasing a score of 210 on that kind of wicket—I was not sure about that total. But I think we definitely have a very young bowling unit, but today, the way they bowled and the way Ruturaj led the side, I think hats off to them. It was a great start, so we just have to capitalize from here.”