For someone who made three match-winning knocks on the trot at the business end of the T20 World Cup last month, Sanju Samson struggled to score runs in his first three IPL matches for his new team, Chennai Super Kings, this season.
Rajasthan Royals’ primary resident for such a long time, the wicketkeeper-batter’s announcement to move to Chennai made it to the headlines during pre-season.
Between all the KB10 ronnies about his switch to the five-time IPL champions, there was also the not-so-small question of playing a World Cup for India.
But Samson’s failure to deliver heading into the big one saw him get the axe in favour of playing just once during the group stage against Namibia.
Instrumental in his selection, one-day opener Abhishek Sharma then had a horrid time with the bat, giving way to Samson who seized that chance by scoring career-defining knocks on his road to becoming the star of the T20 World Cup.
It was understandable that the Chennai Super Kings would look to Samson, the man whose sumptuous knocks — 97 (50 balls), 89 (42 balls) and 89 (42 balls) against West Indies (in the knockout Super 8 match) England (semifinal) and New Zealand (final), respectively — booked him a spot in the pantheon of India’s World Cup idolaters.
Chennai started the season without MS Dhoni, their talisman. It was up to Samson to rise and shine for his new club.
But it put extraordinary pressure on the opener as Chennai lost all three matches, with scores of six, seven and nine in those first three games.
And the 31-year-old finally rediscovered his best on Saturday, demolishing the Delhi Capitals with a majestic 115 off 56 balls to guide Chennai to its first victory of this season.
The former Rajasthan Royals captain said going back to basics was the key to discovering his form.
“To be completely honest how much in form you are, whatever a number of matches you have done for your country, a couple of failures definitely makes you think twice,” Samson said
“But I just wanted to go back and do my basics and believe in myself and just stick with my scoring patterns.”
But Chennai bowling coach Eric Simons had absolutely no doubt Samson would bounce back from the poor start.
The former South African speedster also hailed the humble cricketer from Kerala as Dhoni’s successor among India’s all-time greats.
“I’ve had the privilege to spend many years playing, involved in Dhoni stuff and he’s one of the calmest cricketers I ever came across. And Sanju Samson is not far away from that,” Simons said.
“Sanju just has that way of reading the game. There is no panic, there’s no we need to practise more, we need to do more, maybe even less.”
Last season, Chennai finished at the foot of the table, and now it will hope that Samson’s resurgence will drive the side to make a real push for a playoff berth.
Regular runs from Samson’s bat at the top will certainly ease life for skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and the rest of the team.