Sanju Samson unfiltered: India star opens up like never before in candid presser

There was something about the way Sanju Samson walked into the press conference room on Tuesday night. He had just smashed 57 off 22 balls against Afghanistan, but it was what he said afterwards that lingered.

At this stage of their careers, most cricketers have learnt to be guarded. They get as diplomatic as they can when facing the press. Some prefer interviews moderated by official broadcasters, where there are no awkward follow-ups or tough takes to deal with. For many, the press is simply another extension of the outside noise, the same noise that social media amplifies with its mix of unverified rumours and harsh criticism.

Samson could have taken the easier route. 2nd T20I: Highlights | Scorecard

Instead, he sat down and spoke. Openly. Candidly. At times, almost disarmingly so. There was no great attempt to hide behind the usual cricketing phrases. No excessive diplomacy. No effort to pretend that the noise around him does not exist.

And there was good reason for the questions to matter to him.

Selection debates and Sanju Samson have been synonymous. And it’s 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 to consistently find a place in the XI. Nine years to feature in a T20 World Cup. 11 years to get a game in one.

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

On Tuesday, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Samson once again was asked to make his case with the bat. After making 8 off 12 balls, he smashed 49 runs from his next 10 deliveries to finish with 57 off 22, setting up India’s seven-wicket win.

There was the fluency that the world keeps talking about, the effortlessness when he sends the ball flying into the stands and the improved range on display. But there was calculation in it too. He absorbed the early pressure before taking the game away.

And in some ways, he outdid what he had conjured up on the field.

“After a few failures, you definitely go through a lot. Being an Indian cricketer, it's not easy to face failures, but that's where my experience comes in,” Samson said, reflecting on the tempo with which he approached his knock on Tuesday.

“I try to shut out the noise, try to be confident, and try to come out and still keep scoring at a high strike rate. Even taking the chances, even knowing that if I fail again, I’ll be facing a lot of noise again. But I think that's the way we are built here in Indian cricket, and I just go out there, try to score maximum, and contribute,” he said. Sanju Samson has learned to live with the noise (PTI Photo) THE COMPETITORS: SOORYAVANSHI AND ABHISHEK

In the latest chapter of ‘why/why not Sanju Samson is playing?’, the 31-year-old is competing 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’s Sooryavanshi who has warmed the benches, allowing Samson and Abhishek to free their arms in the middle.

It’s not an easy spot to be in. Samson has the experience, but he is competing against two youngsters who have shown no fear of failure and have somehow found consistency too. A couple of bad knocks and Samson will be on the bench. He knows that better than most.

Three games after winning the Player of the Series Award in the T20 World Cup, Samson was dropped to the bench in England earlier this year. He then was not picked for a T20I series in Zimbabwe. The series against Afghanistan was his nth comeback into the Indian side.

And now, the noise around Sooryavanshi is impossible to miss whenever the 15-year-old is on the bench, especially after the world has seen what the wonder kid is capable of doing, even against some of the best bowlers in the business.Samson has learnt to live with it.

He had no inhibitions when asked if there is pressure because of this three-way race for the openers’ slots. In fact, he had a smile on his face when asked if the three of them, Abhishek, himself and Sooryavanshi, were discussing this.

“It's a very challenging place to be in, right from the team management and everyone: from the captain, the coach, and the selectors. It's a very tough choice, actually. All of them are really good, all of them are performing, and all of them have to be given a right opportunity to keep performing at the international level. So, it's a very tough decision," he said.

“I totally understand myself, leading an IPL franchise. I know how hard these decisions are, and everyone has been performing really well. I have been in this kind of space for quite a few years, so I just know how to balance it out, think about what is in my control, and try to be very positive with your competitors as well. They are competitors for the outside world, but we are a team, we are playing for a country, and we want to win the game first. Then it comes down to individuals,” he said.advertisementEMPATHY FOR GG BHAI Sanju Samson and Gautam Gambhir having a chat in Delhi (PTI Photo) Being empathetic helps.

Sanju Samson is no longer seeing team management’s calls only from the lens of a player. Having been in the hot seat in the IPL, the Kerala wicketkeeper can understand the logic behind calls, even when it’s a harsh one.

In fact, he believes taking the right calls is not always going to be the popular choice.

And that’s why he was able to live with the call to drop him in England and hand Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a debut.

“Like I said before, running an Indian team is not an easy thing. You are seeing a 15-year-old boy coming in after scoring 700-800 runs. My Player of the Tournament was before that, and after that, he performed so well. He had to come in some way or another, and I didn't perform in two or three games. He was in form, and they wanted to bring games into that series, which was very understandable from a leadership point of view,” he said.

Samson also understands the difficult calls Gautam Gambhir has had to make. He speaks with respect about the India coach, particularly the way he has communicated those decisions to the players. The long conversations between the two during training have become a familiar sight.

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

“Taking hard decisions is not easy. Making popular decisions is easy, but as a leadership group, they have been taking some really tough calls, keeping the team first. So, we have to give credit to the leadership group for that.”KEEPING THE Wi-Fi OFF

It is one thing to say you can shut out the noise. It is another to actually live by it. Doesn’t he get affected by what’s being written and what’s being said about him?

“I try to turn off the Wi-Fi!” he said as the press room burst into laughter.

But Samson knows the Wi-Fi could not always stay off.

“But sometimes the Wi-Fi turns on, and comments pop up, a senior player says something, or someone else says something. It's very normal. I think it's their choice. Sometimes it's their frame of mind, what words they want to choose. It's totally up to them; they can use a positive frame of sentences or a negative frame of sentences.

“I think I have been mature and experienced enough to handle it. Initially, you do feel a bit bad. I'm not a machine or a robot to say it doesn't matter to me. It definitely matters, and you kind of get a bit affected. But then you try to talk to yourself and remind yourself of who you are and what you need to do.

“Outside noise does affect cricketers in India, but you need to be very clear about what your mindset is, how you need to prepare, and with what mindset you need to play. If I paid attention to those things, I wouldn't be able to bat like this. Before hitting, I'd think 10 times, ‘If I get out, the Wi-Fi problem will happen again.’”

The success in the T20 World Cup 2026 came at the right time. With four fifty-plus scores, including one in the semifinal and the final, the monkey was off Samson’s back, and the heroics gave him belief that he belonged here. Yes, sometimes, it does take 11 years of an international career to feel so.

During the World Cup, he was fighting for a spot alongside Ishan Kishan. Then the team management found a way to accommodate them both. Now, there is the battle with Sooryavanshi.

The cycle is never-ending. But perhaps Samson has 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. The World Cup also helped a lot. Whatever pressure you are in, you kind of realise what type of player you are, and you just try to go out there and express yourself, keeping the team first.”- EndsPublished By: Akshay RameshPublished On: Sep 16, 2026 08:36 IST