Sanju Samson’s India story is a hard-earned lesson in patience and persistence. Since his debut in 2015, Samson has been hailed as one of India’s brightest batting talents, yet his international record — 16 ODIs and 53 T20Is over more than a decade — reads like a career of missed continuity. For a player of his calibre, that inconsistency was deeply frustrating.
Much of the problem lay in role congestion and fluctuating form. As a wicketkeeper-batter in a deep Indian roster, Samson often found himself squeezed out by established names. Periods of poor form compounded the issue, leaving him to oscillate between middle-order duty and extended spells on the bench. Then a simple positional change altered his trajectory.
A promotion to the top of the order in T20Is allowed Samson to express his attacking instincts more fully. When given the licence to open, he scored three centuries in five innings — a blistering run that did more than fill scorecards; it rewired how selectors viewed him. No longer just a middle-order option, Samson began to look like a bona fide T20 opener for India.
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Cricket’s reality, however, is seldom linear. Shubman Gill’s return to the T20 side last year pushed Samson down the order at the Asia Cup, only for Gill’s struggles as an opener to reopen the door for Samson. That stop-start pattern has been a recurring motif in his career — flashes of brilliance followed by fresh hurdles.
Samson’s reflections in a BCCI video underline the emotional toll. “Ten years of lots and lots of failures, few successes here and there,” he said, summarising what it takes to be a World Cup cricketer. He also revealed the bittersweet truth of selection: he made India’s 15 for the 2024 World Cup but didn’t play a match. Still, he remained thankful to be in the squad and pragmatic about opportunity: you never know when a chance will come, so you must be ready.
Sanju Samson has been in sublime form post the T20 World Cup 2024 🌟🏏#SanjuSamson #IndianCricket #T20I #Insidesport #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/d6DRR6uvGP
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) January 20, 2026
To manage the pressure, Samson deliberately built a protective bubble. He focused on process, kept a small circle of trusted people and worked on the little things. “It’s very hard to not look at the outside noise when you are playing cricket in India,” he admits, but that discipline helped him stay prepared for the moment when opportunity arrived.
The shift from middle-order bat to opener wasn’t pre-planned — it was a readiness meeting the circumstances. Samson says the opening opportunity “came out of nowhere.” He initially slotted into the side at No.3–5, but after about 10–11 innings opening, he produced performances that cemented his role at the top.
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Ultimately, the starts and stops of Samson’s international journey have gifted him perspective. After a decade in international cricket, he still describes wearing the India jersey as a special privilege. That reverence, more than statistics, fuels his hunger — and it’s what keeps his inner fire alive as he chases a more stable, defined role with the national side. His next chapter will be defined by consistency, opportunity and resilience.
