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Suryakumar Yadav rarely finds himself playing second fiddle on a day when he hits 75 off 35 balls. But Sanju Samson’s knock against Bangladesh in the third Twenty20 International was just that. Samson opened the innings with a brilliant display of hitting, scoring 111 off 47 in Hyderabad, a city that has produced two of India’s most elegant batsmen.
Off 40 balls, it was India’s second-fastest T20I century and set up their highest-ever total in the tournament, 297 for 6. Batting looks easy when Samson is in the zone, and he was in the zone again on Saturday. In addition, it was a master class in how to use creases.
In the second over, facing Taskin Ahmed, Samson moved to the leg side, made space for himself, and hit the full, straight delivery through the covers for four runs. Taskin cut his length and further straightened his line for the next ball. Once more backing away, Samson gave him an inside-out four-punch.
After Samson hit two more boundaries off the next two deliveries, Taskin’s opening over yielded sixteen runs. To throw away that many in the last game, the fast bowler had to finish all four of his overs.
Samson played with Mustafizur Rahman’s length with his footwork. He took a few quick steps down the pitch and smashed the ball for a straight six while it was moving more slowly. Samson went deep in his crease in Mustafizur’s following over, and off the back foot, he lofted a length ball over extra cover for another six. This was maybe the best shot of the day, even though Suryakumar demonstrated his 360-degree range from the other end.
Against Rishad Hossain, Samson did not need to employ a lot of footwork since the legspinner made a long mistake. With a dot to begin the tenth over of the innings, he let Samson off with four deliveries that were too full, which he casually hit for four sixes.
Samson’s most violent moment in an innings that included eight sixes and eleven fours was celebrating his fiftyth run with an air punch that released years’ worth of pent-up rage.
Samson’s tale is one of unrealised promise. He had only played 32 matches in his T20I career, which began in 2015 with a lot of promise. He amassed 483 runs at a 19.32 average and 132.69 strike rate in those games.
There are two perspectives on it. First of all, he never had a chance to get comfortable and reach his peak performance. Secondly, he failed to capitalise on the opportunities that were presented to him. He had not been able to do the IPL respect to his talent. He would start with a bang but fizzle out way too soon.
Samson miscued one to deep midwicket in the opening Twenty20 International, but he still looked sharp. He perished for 29 from 19. He gave a furious scream as he turned to walk back. He could have knocked a few people around and reached a fifty, considering that India was only pursuing 128. However, that would have gone against both his personal ethics and the team’s philosophy.
Finally, his strategy has proven successful. If not opened a new chapter, he has at least flipped the page with his hundred.