IND vs SA 3rd ODI: Gautam Gambhir believes Sanju Samson ‘kickstarted his international career’ after match-winning ton in Paarl | Cricket News

Sanju Samson’s ton in Paarl, which helped India win the series, was a measure of the batter’s growth as a cricketer since his debut in international cricket eight years ago. The pacing of the innings showed his maturity. Though he has been in the setup for a long time but was not given a consent run in the team, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes this century in the third ODI will kickstart his career.
“Today, through this knock, somewhere, he has kickstarted his international career. Before this, he always received sporadic chances – sometimes, he would get a game, something he would be left out of. But when you score a 100, you impress the selectors and even pressure them to pick you,” Gambhir said, speaking on Star Sports.

Unlike his previous ODI innings where he came lower down the order on Thursday, Samson came to bat at number three and on a wicket, which was a bit slower. The Rajasthan Royals skipper applied himself well and shepherded the innings when the wickets fell from the other end.
There was a period in the innings when spinners Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj were operating in tandem, and runs were hard to come ; however, Samson showed composure through the period and accelerated in the later overs of the innings when the situation demanded.
“Such seamless switching of gears comes with experience. He has played so much domestic and T20 cricket and captained in the IPL, so he knows how to absorb pressure. Stuff like which bowler you plan to take on, and those calculations are not easy. He started slowly before he started to keep the scoreboard ticking and, in the end, went after. We all know how destructive he can be. This was a proper batter’s innings with experience, caliber, and class,” Gambhir would add.
The former Indian opener also raised concerns if India would stick with him until the next World Cup. “But we’ll have to see whether India will even pers with him after this century because the next World Cup is four years away. Still, the kind of quality player Samson is, I feel he should be persed with,” he said.