Sanju Samson, for the longest time, had a tough time becoming a mainstay in the Indian squad, mostly being in and out of the side. However, all that changed when Gautam Gambhir took over the coaching responsibilities earlier last year after the T20 World Cup 2024.
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Samson was promoted to open the batting with Abhishek Sharma and while he had a quiet start in his first series against Sri Lanka, he bounced back emphatically during the tours of Bangladesh and South Africa, smashing three centuries. Over 2024 and 2025, he featured in 18 T20Is for India, amassing the three hundreds and a half-century, including back-to-back tons in South Africa.
Speaking about what changed, Samson opened up and revealed Gambhir’s warning that helped him find confidence and transform his India career.
Speaking to Ravichandran Ashwin in a video on his Youtube channel, the Rajasthan Royals captain said, “I was playing a Duleep Trophy game in Andhra, Surya was playing as well, that’s when he came & told ‘Chetta, there is a good opportunity coming for you – we have 7 games lineup up, I am going to give you all 7 games as an opener’ – the word coming from the Captain, it was great then I played 2 games in Sri Lanka & I got duck in two games – I was bit down, that’s when Gauti bhai saw me, he came up to me and asked what happened – I told him that I didn’t capitalise on the chances I got – and he was like ‘So? I will remove you from the team only if you scored 21 ducks’ – that kind of confidence from Captain & coach helped me to do what I did later on”.
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While the RR skipper is in the middle of one of the biggest transfer speculations in IPL history, he did not categorically specify about any possibility.
According to the latest reports, Samson has asked the Royals to release him ahead of IPL 2026.
Samson however had very fond words for the Royals franchise, saying, “RR has meant the world to me. A small child coming from a village in Kerala, wanting to show his talent. And then Rahul sir and Manoj Badale sir gave me a stage to get up and show the world what I am made of. That time, they trusted me throughout. The journey with RR has been really great, and I’m very grateful to have been in a franchise like that. It really means a lot to me,” Sanju told Ashwin.
Whether he will be traded or return to the auction pool remains to be seen. CSK are the frontrunners for a possible trade but terms have not been met while KKR is another franchise who will be looking to go all-out on Sanju if he enters the auction.
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