“Are they testing his batting or his heart?” enquired Shashi Tharoor.
“I guess they are testing his heart,” replied Harbhajan Singh, with a heartbreak emoticon.
The Indian squad had just been announced for the T20I and ODI series against the West Indies, and more than the names that made the list, the discourse centred on the one that did not: Sanju Samson.
Then 25, Samson was at the peak of his powers. He had a 342-run IPL campaign for Rajasthan Royals, and over the last three seasons, he was the ninth-highest run-scorer.
What ignited the discourse, however, was not mere omission — it was the peculiar cruelty of contradiction. Days earlier, Samson had been named to the Bangladesh T20I series, his place seemingly assured. Yet in all three matches, he did not bat.
Samson ran the drinks for all three matches. And then, he was dropped from the squad entirely. Perhaps, there were faults in the way he ran drinks, for surely, they could not find fault with his batting. Because, to fault one’s batting, one has to give the player a chance to bat in the first place.
Samson did not offer any comment on his exclusion, but on Twitter (or whatever it is called these days), he posted an emoticon. Of a smiling face. The response it provoked was a quote from poet Iqbal Safipuri: Kaun jaane ki ek tabassum se // kitne mahfum-ey-ghum nikalte hain.
It translates to: Who can tell how many shades of grief // hide within a single smile.
The Leitmotif of Sanju Samson’s Career
Unexplained neglect has long been the leitmotif of Samson’s career. He had been expected to make his debut against the West Indies in 2014, but such has been his tryst with fortune that a dispute between Caribbean players and their board resulted in the match being called off.
The debut finally arrived a year later, but it was little more than a token appearance. For the next three years, Samson would not receive a single call from the selectors despite remaining among the IPL’s more consistent batters. Even when he was eventually recalled — for that Bangladesh series in 2019 — chief selector MSK Prasad felt compelled to explain: Sanju Samson’s problem is his inconsistency.
Samson finished as the sixth-highest run-scorer in IPL 2021, but was not selected in the T20 World Cup squad. A year later, he was snubbed again, despite a 458-run IPL season. The theme continued to 2022.
The Tragedy of Becoming an Afterthought
Prasad was not a selector on this occasion, but when The Indian Express asked him whether Samson deserved his place, his response was: In place of whom?
In those four words lies a neat summary of Samson’s international career. Regardless of what he produced, the conversation always returned to whom he would be replacing. His case was rarely examined on its own merit. He was an afterthought — an appendix to more consequential debates.
Often, Samson found himself in the squad for the format that, at the time, did not mean much. He would be playing T20Is when the ‘main men’ will be preparing for the ODI World Cup, and on the odd occasion when he would be selected for the T20 World Cup squad in 2024, he would not play a single game.
Not that he would have been a disastrous addition to the playing XI, but he would be playing in place of whom?
Just When It Was Starting to Make Sense
Gautam Gambhir has always been a believer in Samson’s abilities. In 2020, he tweeted that Samson was not only India’s best keeper-batter, but the best young batter the country has.
His appointment as the team’s head coach meant more opportunities for Samson. And he would justify it, with the century against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, or with twin centuries against South Africa in Hyderabad and Johannesburg.
And when it seemed certain that Samson’s place in the team was immovable, Shubman Gill would be announced as the team’s vice-captain, because the selectors see “leadership qualities” in him.
After Years of Misfortune, Some Luck
Here it must be said, in fairness, that Samson did not always help his own cause. Through much of 2025, he managed just one T20I half-century in the entire year. His return to favour owed something to fortune as well as merit — the Indian batting order's persistent vulnerability against off-spin created a vacancy that suited his profile.
But as Samson himself noted, in the calm that followed an England game in which Harry Brook dropped a dolly, that after years of being consistently unlucky, he deserved a bit of luck.
I have been very unlucky. And luck also works sometimes. I was fortunate that luck was in my favour today, so I took it quietly.Sanju Samson
The Breaker of Records
At the 2026 T20 World Cup, Samson scored 321 runs despite playing only five matches, breaking Virat Kohli’s record of the most runs scored by an Indian in a single T20 World Cup campaign — 319 runs in the 2014 edition. Moreover, Samson did so at a strike rate of 199.37, as opposed to Kohli’s 129.14. Granted, Samson batted in pitches resembling batting paradise, but his strike rate is the highest among any batter who has ever scored at least 300 runs in a T20 World Cup edition.
In the final against New Zealand, he scored a match-winning 89 — highest score ever by any batter in the final of a T20 World Cup. He did not hold his emotions back after the game.
I was broken after the New Zealand series. My dreams were completely shattered. And I was thinking what can I do. But God had different plans. And I was rewarded for being brave enough to dream. It feels like a dream. I am very happy and grateful. Out of words, out of emotions. This started one-two years before. When I was in the 2024 World Cup team where I didn't play, I kept visualising, kept on working and this was exactly what I wanted to do.Sanju Samson
And upon reaching Kerala, here's what he said, per ANI:
It was like a dream. I was courageous enough to have this dream. That, I want to win it for my country. I want to contribute in such a way that it becomes what it is now. I am very happy and feeling very blessed. I am trained to look at situations in a positive manner from my childhood days. I generally feel that all the pain, all the setbacks have made me much stronger, and that is the only reason why I could do what I did. I feel that all the pain, setbacks, and disappointments in life and in my career, if used positively, can be a great strength in your life.Sanju Samson
The Night Where It All Made Sense
Coming back to the lines of Iqbal Safipuri — indeed, a smile can hide shades of grief. On Sunday, 8 March, Sanju Samson had a smile. Not in the form of an emoticon, but on his face. This was real. Unadulterated. And — this did not had any shade of grief, but of relief. Years of neglect were wiped off 32 in only a few hours. All it took was one night for it.
There is a lesson for all of us in this.
For days and nights at a stretch, life will refuse to make sense. On those nights, you may feel tempted to let go, convinced that years of perseverance have yielded nothing but hurt. The option to walk away will always exist — and there is no shame in choosing it. But if you do not — if you hold on just a little tighter when it hurts the most — there will come a night when everything finally falls into place.
A night, where it all makes sense.
For Sanju Samson, that night was yesterday.