Sanju Samson of India after scoring a century during the 3rd One Day International match between South Africa and India (Photo by Ashley Vlotman - Gallo Images/Getty Images)
There was never doubting his talent – he always possessed it in abundance - but there were not enough numbers to show for it. He made his international debut in 2015 but inconsistent results meant that he could never cement a permanent place for India in white-ball cricket. There were some great performances in the IPL but there were some poor ones for India. It was almost as if he was not able to transcend that gap between elite franchise cricket and internationals.
But something has changed this season.
Sanju Samson is finally showcasing his true prowess with the bat and making his mark in T20 cricket. He had a brilliant IPL and is amongst India’s highest impact batters in 2024 in the format. Samson has hammered two international T20 hundreds this year and has been at his destructive best.
RG looks back at Samson’s prolific year in T20 cricket.
Samson’s best IPL season
Samson has returned with fairly consistent returns in the IPL since 2017. In each of the seven seasons from 2017 till 2023, he has scored in excess of 300 runs at an average varying 27.5 and 40 and a strike rate between 136.7 and 158.9. But there was no one season where he scored big and did so at an alarming scoring rate. Samson scored 484 runs in 2021 at an average of 40.3 but at a slightly underwhelming strike rate of 136.7. He had an average of 34.2 and strike rate of 148.7 in 2019 which in terms of a combination of average and strike rate, was his best year in the IPL. But it was still not a WOW season! Samson scored at a rate of 158.9 in 2020 – which remains his best scoring rate for any season – but the average was slightly below par at 28.8. Last season, he again struck at 153 but had as many as eight failures in his 14 innings!
Samson’s five fifties in the season were his most ever in a single edition of the IPL. He ended IPL 2024 with an aggregate of 531 runs (his highest aggregate in a season) in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 – his best ever in a season – at a scoring rate of 153.5 (second-best ever in a season). Overall, it was, by some distance, Samson’s most prolific year in the IPL.
Samson hit 72 boundaries in the season – his most ever. He spent more time at the crease as indicative from a balls per dismissal ratio of 31.5 – again the highest ever for him in a season. While he attacked the pacers and struck at 162 against them in the season, he was brilliant against spin too rotating the strike and finding the gaps. His dot ball percentage against the slower bowlers was just 20% - his lowest ever in any season.
Breakthrough for India in T20Is
Samson represented India in just one solitary T20I in 2015 and then did not play for the country till 2020. He had a torrid time in 2020 and 2021 scoring just 98 runs in nine innings at an average of 10.88. Samson raised the level of his performance in 2022 scoring 179 runs at a rate of 158.4 but failed miserably in the following season in 2023. He could muster 78 runs in six innings in the calendar year at an average of 15.6 and scoring rate of 127.86 with four failures in six outings.
A push back to the top of the order seems to be bringing out the best most destructive avatar of Samson for India in the format. Former greats like Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma have seen their careers transform when moved to open the innings for India.
Samson – the opener – may just turn out to be a master-stroke for India.
Nikhil Narain is a die-hard cricket romantic, published author, and has worked for some of the leading digital websites and broadcasters in India and overseas. An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Nikhil's forte is using data and numbers creatively to weave interesting stories and revolutionize the way cricket statistics are generated and analyzed.
