Sanju Samson Unfiltered: Indian star opens up like never before in candid press

There was something about the way Sanju Samson walked into the press conference room on Tuesday night. He just had smashed 57 off 22 balls against Afghanistanbut what he said next stuck.

At this stage of their career, most cricketers have learned to be guarded. They are as diplomatic as they can be when confronted with journalists. Some prefer interviews moderated by official broadcasters, where there are no awkward follow-ups or heavy lifting. For many, the press is simply another extension of external noise, the same noise that social media amplifies with a mix of unverified rumors and harsh criticism.

Samson could have chosen an easier path. 2nd T20I: Highlights | Scorecard

Instead, he sat down and spoke. Openly. Sincerely. Sometimes even disarming. There was no great attempt to hide behind the usual cricketing phrases. No excessive diplomacy. No effort to pretend the noise around him doesn’t exist.

And he had good reason to care about the questions.

Selection debates and Sanju Samson were synonymous. And it is not a recent phenomenon. It took five years for him to get back into the Indian team after making his debut as a 20-year-old in 2015. It took another four years for him to find a permanent place in the XI. He will appear in the T20 World Cup for nine years. 11 years to get the game in one.

68 T20Is in 11 years since his debut. If one were to ask whether Sanju Samson has cemented his place in the T20I side, the answer is not binary to a question that could easily be answered binary if it was anyone else.

On Tuesday, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Samson was again asked to make his case with the bat. After taking 8 off 12 balls, he smashed 49 runs off his next 10 deliveries to finish with 57 off 22 to set India up by seven wickets.

There was the fluidity the world still talks about, the ease with which he sends the ball flying into the stands and the improved range. But there was also calculation in it. He absorbed the morning’s pressure before taking the match away.

And in some ways, he surpassed what he conjured on the field.

“You definitely go through a lot after a few setbacks. Being an Indian cricketer, it’s not easy to face setbacks, but that’s where my experience comes in,” said Samson, reflecting on the pace with which he approached his knock on Tuesday.

“I try to keep the noise down, I try to be confident and I try to go out and still score at a high strike rate. Even if I take risks, even if I know that if I fail again, I will face a lot of noise again. But I think that’s the way we are set up here in Indian cricket and I just go there, try to score as much as I can and contribute,” he said. Sanju Samson learned to live with the noise (PTI Photo)

CONTESTANTS: SOORYAVANSHI AND ABHISHEK

In the latest chapter of ‘Why/Why Not Sanju Samson Playing?’, the 31-year-old competes with Abhishek Sharma and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket.

In the first two T20Is against Afghanistan, it is Sooryavanshi who warmed the benches and allowed Samson and Abhishek to free their hands in the middle.

It’s not an easy place. Samson has experience, but he’s competing against two youngsters who have shown no fear of failure and have also somehow found consistency. A few bad shots and Samson will be on the bench. He knows that better than most.

Three matches after winning the Player of the Series award at the T20 World Cup, Samson was dropped to the England bench earlier this year. Then he was he was not selected for the T20I series in Zimbabwe. The series against Afghanistan was his nth return to the Indian side.

And now, the buzz around Sooryavanshi cannot be overlooked anytime a 15-year-old is benched, especially after the world has seen what the prodigy is capable of, even against some of the best pitchers in the business.
Samson learned to live with it.

He didn’t hold back when asked if there was pressure because of this three-way race for the opening slots. In fact, he had a smile on his face when asked if the three of them, Abhishek, him and Sooryavanshi, had discussed it.

“It’s a very challenging position, both from the team management and from everyone: the captain, the coach and the selectors. It’s actually a very difficult choice. They’re all really good, they’re all performing and they all have to get the right opportunity to continue to perform at international level. So it’s a very difficult decision,” he said.

“I totally understand myself, running an IPL franchise. I know how difficult these decisions are and they’ve all done really well. I’ve been in this kind of space for quite a few years now, so I just know how to balance it, think about what I can control and try to be very positive with your competitors as well. They’re competitors to the outside world, but we’re a team, we want to win the game first,” he said.

EMPATHY FOR GG BHAI

Sanju Samson and Gautam Gambhir chatting in Delhi (PTI Photo)

Being empathetic helps.

Sanju Samson no longer sees the challenges of leading a team only through the lens of a player. After being on the hot seat in the IPL, the Kerala wicketkeeper can understand the logic of the call, even if it is harsh.

In fact, he believes that making the right calls won’t always be the popular choice.

And that is why he was able to live up to the challenge of dropping him in England and handing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a debut.

“As I said earlier, managing the Indian team is not an easy thing. You see a 15-year-old boy coming in after scoring 700-800 runs. He was my player of the tournament before that and he performed so well after that. He had to come in some way and I didn’t perform in two or three matches. He was in form and from that point of view it wanted to be in charge.”

Samson also understands the difficult calls Gautam Gambhir had to make. He speaks highly of the Indian coach, especially the way he communicates these decisions to the players. Long conversations between them during training became a familiar sight.

“As I told you earlier, I have been in this situation and taken tough calls as a captain in an IPL franchise, so I understand that. This is where communication comes in. As I said earlier, GG bha’s (Gambhira) communication was very important. Even in the middle of the series, there was a lot of communication. Even before this series, he came to me and spoke to me for a long time.

“It’s not easy to make tough decisions. It’s easy to make popular decisions, but as a leadership group they made some really tough calls and kept the team first. So we have the leadership group to thank for that.”

KEEPING Wi-Fi OFF

It’s one thing to say you can block out the noise. It’s another thing to live by it. Doesn’t what is written and what is said about him affect him?

There is a simple fix for Samson.

“Trying to turn off Wi-Fi!” he said as the press room erupted in laughter.

But Samson knows that Wi-Fi can’t stay off.

“But sometimes the Wi-Fi comes on and there’s commentary, an older player says something, or someone else says something. It’s very normal. I think it’s their choice. Sometimes it’s their mood, what words they want to choose. It’s totally up to them; they can use a positive sentence frame or a negative sentence frame.”

“I think I’m mature and experienced enough to handle it. At first you feel a little bad. I’m not a machine or a robot to say I don’t matter. It definitely matters and it affects you a bit. But then you try to talk to yourself and remind yourself who you are and what you have to do.”

“External noise affects cricketers in India, but you have to be clear about what your mindset is, how you have to prepare and what mindset you have to play with. If I paid attention to those things, I wouldn’t be able to bat like that. Before I hit, I would think ten times, ‘If I get out, the Wi-Fi problem will happen again’.”

Success in the T20 World Cup 2026 has come at the right time. With four fifty-plus scores, including one in the semi-final and final, the monkey was off Samson and the heroics gave him the belief that he belonged. Yes, sometimes it takes 11 years of an international career to feel that way.

He battled for a place alongside Ishan Kishan during the World Cup. Then the team management found a way to accommodate them both. Now there is a battle with Sooryavanshi.

The cycle is endless. But maybe Samson stopped trying to control the cycle.

“So it’s better to say, ‘No problem.’ I think I’ve had a very good international career and I’m very grateful for that. The World Cup helped a lot. Whatever pressure you’re under, you realize the type of player you are and you just try to go out and express yourself and keep the team first.”

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

16 Sep 2026 08:36 IST