Sanju Samson smacked a stunning six off Mustafizur Rahman© X (Twitter)
Making the most of his opportunity as an opener, Sanju Samson brought Diwali early to the Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad, notching up his maiden century in T20 internationals. Samson hit a whopping 8 sixes over the course of his stay in the crease, with 5 of them coming in a single over. While the entire cricketing fraternity went ga-ga over Samson's 5 sixes feat, the shot that made the most waves on social media from him wasn't from that over. In the 8th over of the innings, Samson produced a stunning power-hit over the cover region for a six, leaving commentators, including Ravi Shastri stunned.
Mustafizur Rahman bowled a back-of-length delivery outside off. Samson took one step back to put himself in the perfect position and then hit the ball over the cover region for a six, making it look effortless. Ravi Shastri's stunned reaction to Samson's hit can be heard in the video.
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 12, 2024
The shot even made Harsha Bhogle bow down to Samson's skills on social media. "Did you just see Sanju Samson hit that 6 off the Fizz? Requires extraordinary skill to play it. Some player!," he wrote on X.
Did you just see #SanjuSamson hit that 6 off the Fizz? Requires extraordinary skill to play it. Some player!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 12, 2024
Samson hasn't always managed to make his opportunities in T20Is count, resulting in his topsy-turvy career with the national team. The batter, however, has learned with experience and is ready to deliver better results for the Indian team.
"The dressing room energy and the boys are happy for me. It can get frustrating, I could have done much better. With lots of experience, I know how to deal with the pressure. Playing for the country, you come in with a lot of pressure. That pressure was there, I wanted to perform. I kept reminding myself that I should stick to my basics. In the last series I got two ducks. The team management backed me. I have been trying to do something like this (five sixes in an over), I was chasing that and it happened today."