Sanju Samson struck an unbeaten 115 off 56 deliveries against Delhi Capitals (DC) as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) marked their IPL 2026 campaign with a winning start. Despite the match-winning hundred, the CSK batter admitted he had “a lot of doubts” in his head after underwhelming returns in his first three league games.
Samson’s route to the century
- Samson entered the season on the back of three consecutive high scores—97 not out, 89 and 89—after which he had played a key role in India’s T20 World Cup success.
- However, his IPL 2026 began on a tough note, with scores of 6, 7 and 9 in his opening matches.
- Speaking after the game at the post-match presentation, Samson said that even success at international level cannot fully erase the uncertainty that comes after early failures.
- He explained that he decided to return to his fundamentals, focusing on his usual approach to scoring rather than overhauling his game in the middle of the season.
“To be very honest, how much form you’re in—even after you’ve won matches for your country—when you get a couple of failures, it definitely puts a lot of doubts in your mind,” Samson said. “But I just wanted to go back and do my basics, believe in myself, and stick to my scoring patterns. A lot of thoughts came—whether I should go harder at the start, or whether I should change my game plan. In the end, I wanted to keep backing what was working, and luckily it came off beautifully today.”
Asked what exactly he changed to start finding runs, Samson said the answer was simple: he retreated to the basics. He also described how the mental side of batting can get pulled in different directions after repeated setbacks.
“I have failed a lot, and that tells you how you need to come back,” he said. “Mentally you start thinking: do you go a bit harder, or do you change your game plan? Your mind goes here and there. So you need to bring your mind and body back to the basics. I’m 31 years old and I’ve spent a lot of time in this sport, so I need to know what my basics are.”
Samson further elaborated on what those basics look like in practice. He spoke about getting mentally into the right mindset and also executing the physical side of batting with clarity.
“My basics are to mentally get in a different zone, and also physically do your basics,” Samson added. “As a batsman, you need to come back to timing the ball—watching it out of the bowler’s hand, those things. We did some really good sessions a day before with our supporting staff, and I’m very happy it came together nicely today.”
New franchise, renewed responsibility
This was Samson’s first season with CSK after the franchise traded him from Rajasthan Royals for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. Samson said he felt a “responsibility” to repay the faith shown by the trade decision.
“The trust they showed in me, having that trade—I felt I needed to put in a show, I needed to stand up and say, okay, we are still in the tournament, and luckily everything came off very nicely,” Samson said.
He also insisted that the shift in teams did not feel like a major change in day-to-day environment. Samson described CSK as welcoming and calm, helping him settle quickly even after a difficult start.
“It’s not easy to start off the tournament like this in a different franchise,” Samson said. “But it never felt like it was a different franchise. It’s like coming to another home. People are so sweet, so nice, and everyone is so calm. Even after losing three games in a row, we had a meeting of 50 seconds today. That shows how the franchise is, and it really connects with the person I am. So I’m very happy to be here.”
Celebration and dedication to Fleming
Samson marked his hundred by saluting towards the dugout. He said he wanted to dedicate his innings to head coach Stephen Fleming, who had also faced criticism during this period.
“That was for Fleming,” Samson said. “I know how hard it can get. I was leading a franchise for the last five years, I know how mentally challenging it can be, so I just wanted to dedicate this to our coach Fleming.”
