Ruturaj Gaikwad had little hesitation identifying the difference in Chennai Super Kings’ eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on Tuesday night. “On the batting side,” he said at the post-match presentation, “I would say, more than grateful to have Sanju in the side after the tournament he had even in the World Cup and even now. So, obviously, he’s a backbone now.”
Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 87 from 55 balls, assembled with eight fours and three sixes, chased down Delhi’s 166 with nine deliveries to spare. It was his third score above 80 this IPL season and, once again, CSK won whenever he crossed 40. The result lifts Chennai to ten points – still sixth, yet only two behind a crowded chasing pack from second to fifth. With back-to-back fixtures against bottom-placed Lucknow Super Giants (10 and 15 May), the table remains open.
Samson’s form feels like a continuation of last winter’s T20 World Cup, where he was Player of the Tournament during India’s title run. Early in that competition he looked scratchy, betrayed by a trigger movement that left him planted deep in the crease and susceptible to the full ball. A match-winning 97* against West Indies in the quarter-final changed the mood; since then the stillness has returned.
“We actually try to find out what works really well for you,” Samson explained after Tuesday’s victory, “and you try to stick to the basics and you trust your hands to do the job in this format. So I think I’ve been trying to do that from the last two-three months. I’ve been working a bit on my initial movement and it has been coming off nicely.”
He added: “Yeah, I’ve been doing it [staying back in the crease] from the last, three to five years, so I think comfort definitely plays a huge role in your mindset and the confidence which you have to go in batting. And then definitely it’s a tactical move as well. So according to the bowlers and the wicket, I try to, move around a bit.”
On a slow Feroz Shah Kotla surface, Samson’s ability to wait late and access the square boundaries stood out. While Deep Dasgupta remarked on television that the right-hander “seemed to be batting on a different pitch”, the numbers supported the impression: 43 of his runs came through cover and point, areas riskier for most batters on this ground.
Delhi, for their part, lacked penetration once Khaleel Ahmed finished his first spell. Anrich Nortje returned after injury but conceded 39 from his four overs, while left-arm spinner Axar Patel found neither grip nor turn. Rishabh Pant’s side remain eighth, their campaign now hinging on away trips to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
For CSK the equation is simpler: keep Samson settled, and the top four stays within reach.
