Straight lines and a decade’s wait: How Sanju Samson finally had his moment on the world stage

“See, I always say good things happen to good people who wait.”

It is an idea that most of us are taught. It is also an idea that is almost certainly built on survivorship bias where the many good people who wait and receive nothing are conveniently ignored. But despite all its fallacies, on Sunday, it was an idea that manifested itself in its purest form at the Eden Gardens.

Waiting in sport is rarely romantic. In Indian cricket, even less so. Here, it is often a story of benches and backup roles; of being told to be ready; of applauding others; of being shifted and discarded to accommodate those privileged with the fortune of never having to wait at all.

For over a decade, Sanju Samson occupied that space, admittedly falling into the natural trap of self-doubt. There were recalls that didn’t lead anywhere. There were stretches when his place felt temporary even when he was in the XI. But as Suryakumar Yadav pointed out after the virtual quarter-final against the West Indies in Kolkata, Samson waited through it all. And on Sunday, the waiting found its moment.

The long and arduous journey of Sanju Samson

Samson’s career has long been a story of promise. But rarely ever a story of permanence. Ever since he came into the limelight as a teenager playing for India U19s and then for Rajasthan Royals, he has delighted with his strokeplay and the time he has had on his hands. Attributes eerily similar to former captain Rohit Sharma. But while Rohit turned a corner after being pushed up to open six years into his career, that inflection point never came for Samson.

After India’s victory against the West Indies, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke about the importance of backing quality players with enough opportunities. “Sanju is a class player. But I have said this before as well, whenever there’s a slight bad patch in T20 cricket it feels like the player is searching for runs, but if you give them some time [to succeed].”

That backing, however, took nearly a decade to come Samson’s way. He debuted for India in 2015, then had to wait five years for his next international outing. In fact, his first five matches for India were spread across four different series and nearly six years.

The returns did not always help his cause. It took him 14 T20Is to score his first half-century – against Ireland in 2022 – but a lack of role clarity and consistent opportunities played their part. He had been moved around four different positions by then, with not more than three games at one spot at a stretch.

Between his 77 against Ireland in Malahide and the 2024 T20 World Cup, Samson played 11 more T20Is and made 123 runs at 17.53. But back-to-back strong IPL seasons at the top of the order, and his multi-utility as a flexible batter and wicketkeeper meant he found a spot in the World Cup squad. A permanent spot in the XI, however, only came after the World Cup with the retirements of Rohit and Virat Kohli.

Gautam Gambhir, the current India head coach, had always been a strong advocate of Samson’s abilities, and he made his intentions clear not long after he took over the reins. After two consecutive ducks in Sri Lanka in July 2024, Gambhir told him he would be “dropped only if you register 21 ducks,” Samson later revealed.

The long-awaited backing seemed to have worked. Three matches later, Samson would go on to smash his first T20I hundred, and then back it up with two more in the next four games. With Abhishek Sharma also taking to T20I cricket like a duck to water, a stable opening partnership for India’s title defence at home was shaping up.

Also read: After a decade of brain-teasing heartbreaks, the real Sanju Samson has finally arrived

Shubman Gill’s return for the Asia Cup as vice-captain altered the equation. Samson was moved down the order. The fit never looked natural. And with Jitesh Sharma better suited to the middle overs role, just like that, Samson soon found himself out again.

The instability didn’t stop. Gill struggled, and India turned back to Samson a month before the World Cup. Then Samson struggled as well and Ishan Kishan came in. A left-handed top order was exposed by opposition off-spin, creating the perfect storm for Samson’s name to return to the conversation again.

Samson keeps it straight to bend India into the semis

A brisk 24 in his comeback game against Zimbabwe set things up for India to post a big score. Gambhir said the knock “would obviously have given him a lot of confidence”. Confidence that India needed in Kolkata after losing both Abhishek and Kishan early in the steep chase of 196.

The last time Samson had played a T20I at the Eden Gardens was during the 2025 series against England, where Jofra Archer and co. had found him out with the short ball. The West Indies didn’t have express pace of that sort, but Samson had worked on his game, particularly his trigger movements and backlift to give himself a more stable base, as Kotak explained after the game.

“We did work on his initial [movements] a little because we were just trying to create a better base for him. If you try to hit a ball and you have a lot of weight on one leg [compared to] when you have equal weight on both legs, then the base is created and your hands will move much faster. Sanju is someone who does two-three different things (trigger movements). We have been talking since the England series, nearly a year ago. So it’s not like [it happened] now. [We have been talking] about the short balls [to which] he got out against England. So all that we discussed.”

Employing a distinctly lower backlift against spin and a prominent trigger back but not across against pace, Samson was in a kind of cruise control rarely seen in his international career.. Despite the asking rate hovering around 10 and the pressure of a knockout game on hand, he never lost his shape or composure.

According to ESPNCricinfo, Samson had a control percentage of 88, which is exceptional for a knock played at nearly two runs a ball.

The technical adjustments also reflected in the tactical gameplan to hit straight, even when the length wasn’t there for it. Samson slapped a Jason Holder short ball outside off past mid-off like a tennis forehand shot. Five of his 12 boundaries, and one of his four sixes came in the ‘V’ down the ground. Bowlers’ feet in the follow through, the umpire, and the non-striker’s stumps, all were in the firing line when Samson was batting in Kolkata.

Both Gambhir and Kotak were effusive in praise of the solidity Samson displayed. “I actually thought that he never accelerated the innings. It was just very normal cricketing shots. I never saw any muscling the ball as well,” Gambhir said.

Samson would finish on 97, the same 97 his current India coach had made during another famous home World Cup run-chase. Like Gambhir’s knock, Samson’s will be remembered for what it enabled rather than the three runs it lacked. And, in his own words, as “one of the greatest days of my life.”

The idea that good things happen to good people who wait might be imperfect, naive even. But in Kolkata, for one evening, it found evidence.

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