As Gambhir, Suryakumar’s “message” cheered on Samson after back-to-back ducks: “Returned to Kerala thinking ‘kya hoga…'”

The 29-year-old failed in the first two games earlier this week, scoring 29 and 10 goals. But on Saturday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Samson was at his best as he lit up the venue with fireworks.

He reached his 50 in just 22 balls before hitting Rishad Hossain for five straight sixes to reach the three-figure mark in 40 deliveries, the second fastest ever by an Indian. It was Samson’s second international century after hitting an ODI ton on the tour of South Africa last December as he became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a T20I hundred.

“I returned to Kerala and thought, ‘Kya hoga…’”

The last 15 months have not been kind to Samson, who has struggled to make a consistent impact on the international circuit despite his impressive IPL numbers in recent years. Back in August 2023, he was selected as a traveling reserve player for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka before being dropped following KL Rahul’s recovery from injury and later playing for not only the ODI World Cup but also the back-to-back. Back tournament was snubbed T20I series that followed.

After impressing the selectors with a century in the ODI series against South Africa in December last year, he was picked for the Afghanistan series at home in January but returned with a dismissal for Duck on the only opportunity he got back. However, he secured a place in the T20 World Cup squad after an impressive IPL season, but warmed the bench throughout.

Selectors continued to have faith in Samson, who hit a fifty on the Zimbabwe tour in July, but the wicketkeeper-batsman returned earlier this summer with successive ducks in the Sri Lanka series, exiting in discouragement.

“In the last series I got two ducks and went back to Kerala and thought:”kya hoga bhai” he said in the post-game presentation.

However, a text message from the leadership group comprising captain Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gambhir and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar cheered on Samson, who then returned to the Rajasthan Royals academy and prepared for his new role in the Indian team.

“Three weeks before the series I was lucky enough to receive a message from the leadership group. I think Surya, Gautam Bhai and Abhishek Nayar told me three weeks ago that I would be opening. That gave me some real preparation. I went back to the Rajasthan Royals academy, I played with a lot of new bowlers. I was 10 percent more prepared in this series than any other series. ” Samson said in the post-match press conference.

Samson thanked Gambhir and Suryakumar for supporting him despite his failures, which also helped him not to fall prey to selfish motives.

“After a few matches in Sri Lanka, I was a bit skeptical about whether I would get a chance in the next series. But they supported me and kept saying: ‘We will support you no matter what’. I think.” “As a batting team, we aim to dominate every single opposition bowling unit,” Samson said.

“It can be very difficult when you compete on the big stage in cricket. Playing for India is not easy. When you have failures like that, it’s easy to go back and say, ‘Okay, My Apne Liye Thoda Run Bana Letha Hoon (I’ll score some runs for myself)’.But I like being myself. I know what I am as a person, as a character. It’s all about my people, it’s all about my friends, it’s all about my team,” he further added.