8 Years After International Debut, Sanju Samson Hits First Century For India

Mumbai: Sanju Samson has been a bit of an enigma in India cricket.

A wicketkeeper-batsman from Kerala, the 29-year-old Samson is considered by many to have enough talent to make any team as a specialist batter.

Luck and consistency, however, deserted Samson from time to time, restricting his Team India appearances.

Thursday, December 21 was a special day in Samson’s career.

Eight-and-a-half years after making his international debut against Zimbabwe at Harare, Samson scored his maiden international century.

It was an important knock as India and South Africa are tied at 1-1 in the three-match ODI series.

Getting a chance to bat at No. 3 after debutant Rajat Patidar’s promising knock was cut short in the fifth over, Samson constructed his innings beautifully to score 108 off 114 deliveries, which included 6 fours and 3 sixes.

He and Tilak Varma (52) added 116 runs for the fourth wicket before Rinku Singh played a 38-run cameo (off 27 balls) in the closing overs to help Team India post a challenging total of 296/8 at Paarl.