Sanju Samson stayed away from the spotlight of the Indian dressing room for a while, but on Tuesday night\u2014during Chennai Super Kings\u2019 chase against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium\u2014he still kept in mind Gautam Gambhir\u2019s team-first philosophy. The skipper chose the match result over a personal landmark, even though it came within reach of equalling one of Virat Kohli\u2019s most celebrated IPL accomplishments.<\/p>\n
CSK\u2019s season had appeared close to over after a run of defeats in the early stretch of IPL 2026. Yet the five-time champions roared back by collecting five wins, climbing out of the lower half of the points table and dragging themselves into playoff contention. Samson played a key role in that turnaround, producing significant batting contributions in four of those victories.<\/p>\n
The pattern became clear as CSK\u2019s fortunes improved: whenever Samson stayed at the crease beyond the powerplay overs, Chennai ended up winning. In two of those instances, he converted his starts into centuries, while a third chance was set up on Tuesday against Delhi.<\/p>\n
After launching 16 runs off T Natarajan in the 15th over, Samson was just 21 runs away from the milestone. Only three batters in IPL history have managed three or more centuries in a single season: Virat Kohli (four centuries in 2016), Jos Buttler (four in 2022), and Shubman Gill (three in 2023). With CSK needing just 18 runs to get over the line, it looked entirely possible that Samson could reach the mark. However, he allowed young Kartik Sharma to take charge of the final phase and Delhi\u2019s chase was ultimately finished without the century.<\/p>\n
Samson explained that he had made a conscious decision to go with \u201cteam over milestone,\u201d a principle Gambhir had drilled into every member of the Indian setup from the start of his coaching tenure. When asked whether his 87 mattered more than a hundred, Samson responded with a smile, saying that centuries are always special\u2014but he could not justify being selfish for the sake of a personal record, particularly as his batting partner was also in good rhythm. He added that completing the chase gave him more satisfaction than missing the landmark.<\/p>\n
\u201cHundreds are always special,\u201d Samson said when questioned on the missed ton. \u201cBut I felt I couldn\u2019t be selfish and chase it for myself. When the other partner is also batting really well, I don\u2019t want to put that pressure on. I knew the situation, and the priority was to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further elaborated, \u201cYeah, it was (about wanting the 100 against Delhi), but I thought I had to be a bit too selfish for that. So I decided, let\u2019s win the game. The other partner was batting really well, and I didn\u2019t want to tell him, \u2018ek single de de yaar, main sau bana leta hoon\u2019 [take a single, I\u2019ll get my 100]. I didn\u2019t say that. I really enjoyed it\u2014coming not out and finishing the game gives you better satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
CSK\u2019s next match will be against Lucknow Super Giants on May 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sanju Samson stayed away from the spotlight of the Indian dressing room for a while, but on Tuesday night\u2014during Chennai Super Kings\u2019 chase against Delhi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"CSK vs DC: Sanju Samson Skips Century in IPL Match","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Sanju Samson prioritised CSK vs DC victory over a personal milestone, opting out of a century as his team-first call reshaped the chase.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n