Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes Sanju Samson’s hundred in the third ODI between India and South Africa could give a boost to his international career. Samson scored 108 runs off 114 deliveries as India set a 297-run target for the Proteas in the series decider in Paarl on Thursday. They then bundled the hosts for 218 to complete a 78-run win.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir said: “We all know how much talent Sanju Samson has. Not only us, everyone has spoken about it, the sort of knocks he has played in the IPL or T20 cricket. I believe he has kickstarted his international career with this knock. He used to get intermittent chances before this but when you score a hundred, you push the selectors and put pressure on them to give you regular chances in ODI cricket.”

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Sanju Samson also added 52 runs for the third wicket with KL Rahul (21 off 35) after India was reduced to 49/2 in the eighth over as well. He then added together a 116-run fourth-wicket partnership with Tilak Varma (52 off 77) to make sure that the Indian team set a challenging target for the South African team as well. Gautam Gambhir also expressed his hope for Sanju Samson to be given a longer run in the team as well.

“It needs to be seen whether they will persist with Sanju Samson in ODI cricket because the next World Cup is after four years. However, the quality of player Sanju is, I believe he should definitely be persisted with. The way he keeps as well, you have an excellent option in the middle order. You will always have a heavy top order but Sanju gives you a middle-order option plus wicketkeeping. So I feel his international career has started again after this knock,” Gautam Gambhir concluded.