Away from the Indian dressing room for a while now, Sanju Samson did not forget Gautam Gambhir's philosophy on Tuesday, during Chennai Super Kings' chase against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, even at the expense of letting go of a chance to equal one of Virat Kohli's greatest feats in the Indian Premier League.
For a season that looked all but over for the Chennai Super Kings after a string of losses in the opening half of IPL 2026, the five-time champions bounced back with five wins to climb from the bottom half of the table into playoff contention. In four of those victories, Samson made notable contributions with the bat.
The trend was simple: each time Samson batted beyond the powerplay, Chennai won. On two of those occasions, he went on to score centuries, and a third opportunity loomed on Tuesday night against Delhi.
After smashing 16 runs off T Natarajan in the 15th over, Samson stood just 21 runs away from the milestone. Only three batters in IPL history have scored three or more centuries in a single season, Virat Kohli (4) in 2016, Jos Buttler (4) in 2022, and Shubman Gill (3) in 2023. And it seemed plausible even as CSK needed just 18 runs to win. But Samson allowed young Kartik Sharma to attack the final deliveries and finish the game, choosing “team over milestone”, a principle Gambhir had instilled in every member of the Indian dressing room from day one as head coach.
{{/usCountry}}After smashing 16 runs off T Natarajan in the 15th over, Samson stood just 21 runs away from the milestone. Only three batters in IPL history have scored three or more centuries in a single season, Virat Kohli (4) in 2016, Jos Buttler (4) in 2022, and Shubman Gill (3) in 2023. And it seemed plausible even as CSK needed just 18 runs to win. But Samson allowed young Kartik Sharma to attack the final deliveries and finish the game, choosing “team over milestone”, a principle Gambhir had instilled in every member of the Indian dressing room from day one as head coach.
{{/usCountry}}“Hundreds are always special,” Samson admitted with a cheeky smile when asked if his 87 was worth more than a ton. But he insisted he could not be selfish and chase the milestone for himself, especially when his batting partner was also in good touch. Finishing the game, he said, gave him greater satisfaction than the missed landmark.
“Yeah, it was (on his desire to get the 100 against Delhi), but I felt I had to be a bit too selfish for that. So I thought, let’s win the game. The other partner was batting really well, and I didn’t want to tell him, ‘ek single de de yaar, main sau bana leta hoon’ [take a single, I’ll get my 100]. So I didn’t say that. I really enjoyed it, coming not out and finishing the game gives you better satisfaction,” he added.
Chennai will play their next game against Lucknow Super Giants on May 10.
Gavaskar reacts
Sunil Gavaskar broke down the analogy behind Samson not chasing his century against the Delhi Capitals, explaining that had Kartik not gone for the big shots at the end, the opener would have gone for the three-figure knock.
"Patience brings great rewards. He got set and then accelerated. Had Kartik not finished it off with those shots, Samson might have had his century. But he played for the team," he said on commentary.