Samson became the first Indian batter to score back-to-back T20I hundreds.
Sanju Samson produced a blistering century to script India’s emphatic 61-run victory over South Africa in the first T20I at Kingsmead, Durban on Friday (November 8).
Opening the innings, the right-hander took the Proteas bowling attack to the cleaners as he slammed 107 off 50 balls. His knock was studded with seven boundaries and 10 sixes.
With this knock, Samson became the first Indian and fourth batter overall to score back-to-back T20I hundreds. He also equalled the record of Rohit Sharma for the most sixes hit by an Indian batter in a Men's T20I innings.
After his match-winning innings, Sanju Samson explained how role clarity from the team management and captain Suryakumar Yadav’s backing helped him turn things around.
Since making his T20I debut in 2015, Samson had an inconsistent run at the top level which saw the 29-year-old going in and out of the side. But under the Surya-Gautam Gambhir regime, he seems to releasing his true potential.
After scoring 150 runs in the T20I series against Bangladesh that included a ton (111 off 47) in Hyderabad, Samson gave another glimpse of his exceptional talent in Durban against South Africa.
"When I was playing Duleep Trophy, in the second match, Surya was playing for the other team and during the match itself, he told me Chetta, 'agla 7 match tera hai', (you are going to play next 7 matches), you are going to open the innings in the next 7 games. Whatever happens, I will fully back you," Samson told Jio Cinema.
"I got so much clarity after that. For the first time in my career, I got such clarity that I have 7 matches, so I came out with a different determination. I had to do something different. If you get such clarity and confidence from captain, then it reflects differently on the ground as well. The team management gave me that clarity way ahead that 7 matches (3 vs Bangladesh and 4 vs South Africa) I will be opening. I am not looking too far. Just looking to contribute to the team's cause," he added.
Samson also commented on Durban pitch, saying it had extra bounce but preparations ahead of the game helped him quite a bit.
"When you score 100 for your country, it's definitely a very special feeling. The wicket was a little more bounced, a little spongy in the beginning. It's been raining here for 3-4 days, so I think it was a bit more challenging," Samson said.
"So according to that, we are talking to the team and we are preparing accordingly. Even when it rained for 3-4 days, our team came here and practiced. We did batting for 2-3 hours, so it was a little beneficial."
"We're the World Champions and we need to play like that," he further remarked.