Haters gonna hate, but Sanju Samson's gonna smash it

A swing and a miss in the first ball of his second over might have made Rishad Hossain think he was setting up Sanju Samson to be caught in the deep or trapped leg before. Nothing of that sort happened in the next five balls. Sanju launched the leggie for five sixes in a row, hitting it as straight as possible, like a batter on song, in India's third T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.

In fact, if Sanju had been singing, that 10th over from Bangladesh was the crescendo of a masterful display that was played throughout on a high tempo and ended in his first T20I century (111 off 47).

Sanju gave the visitors as much as a sniff when he walked back after flexing his biceps, disappointed with a mistimed pull off Mustafizur Rahman in the 14th over. But Suryakumar Yadav hugged him tight. The India captain and the dugout couldn't have cheered louder when Sanju hit a four off Mahedi to get to his century in 40 balls.

Alright, Sanju was early into his pull and that was a cheap way for a set batter to go. But who cares? Surya might have said, 'Chin up, warrior' because Sanju had fought like one. He had to answer his critics, who have never missed a chance to remind this swashbuckling wicketkeeper batter, a month shy of his 30th birthday, that he was no more the boy wonder of IPL fame.

There was everything in that Sanju innings. Raw power, as he clubbed Mustafizur over extra cover with a back-foot punch shortly after reaching his fifty; finesse, as he drove Taskin through the cover for a boundary, then followed it up with three more: through cover again, midwicket and square leg; guile, as he slog-swept one on the pads from Mahedi. It wasn't the perfect innings, but it was pure.

Since making his T20I debut at Harare in 2015, Sanju has seldom played such monstrous innings; he had never hit a century in 33 innings. His previous best in a T20I was a 77 against Ireland in Dublin in 2022. He got a fifty in July this year against Zimbabwe in Harare.

In his defence, Sanju has never had as clean a break in India colours before. In 2020, on a tour of Australia, Sanju played three matches in a row; the highest he made was 23 because he batted in the middle order and never had time to settle. Two years later, when Sri Lanka came visiting, Sanju had a chance when he was rewarded with an opportunity to open the innings in the third T20I for playing the perfect partner in Shreyas Iyer's match-winning 74 in the previous match. But he squandered it and made just 18.

Sanju took a lot of slack for not living up to a great opportunity that presented itself this July when India toured Sri Lanka. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20Is after the World Cup victory, and Surya Kumar Yadav led the side. Sanju opened the second match with Yashavi Jaiswal but was dismissed for a golden duck. He came in at one down in the third game but was, again, sent back for a duck.

So when Bangladesh came knocking, and the BCCI decided to field a young side again, it always seemed like make-or-break for Sanju, who was allowed to open India's innings for the first time throughout a series.

In Gwalior, he made a good start but perished for 29 in a 7-wicket win. In Delhi, he couldn't get past 10. Was Hyderabad his last hurrah? What if he had failed to construct something as brilliant as this century? What if he had looked good facing the new ball and then faded into oblivion like he often does? What impact would it have had on his international career? It is hard to say, but it isn't hard to guess, either. But tonight, Sanju has just made life harder for the selectors.