Finally, after enduring a torrid start to the IPL 2026, India's World Cup superstar Sanju Samson produced a statement performance, smashing an unbeaten 115 off 56 balls to guide Chennai Super Kings to victory over Delhi Capitals, marking their first win of the season. Coming into the IPL, Samson had been in sublime form. His scores of 97 not out, 89, and 89 played a crucial role in India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign. However, he began the IPL season with disappointing scores of 6, 7, and 9, which raised a lot of questions over his performance. Speaking after the match, Samson mentioned that he stuck to his basics.

"To be very honest, how much form you're in, however many matches you have won for your country, a couple of failures definitely put a lot of doubts in your mind. But I just wanted to go back and do my basics and believe in myself and just stick to my scoring patterns," Samson said at the post-match presentation.

"So a lot of thoughts came. Should I go harder at the start or should I change my game plan? But I wanted to stick to what was working and luckily, it came off beautifully today," he said.

The knock was highly crucial given the context of Samson’s move to Chennai Super Kings. Ahead of the IPL, in a high-profile trade, the franchise brought him in from Rajasthan Royals in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. Meanwhile, Samson admitted feeling a strong sense of responsibility to justify the franchise’s trust in him.

"The trust they showed in me, having that trade, I think I felt I needed to put on a show; I needed to stand up and say, okay, we are still in the tournament and luckily, everything came off very nicely."

"It's not easy to start off the tournament like this in a different franchise, but it never felt like it was a different franchise. I think it's like coming to another home. I think people are so sweet, so nice and everyone is so calm. Even after losing three games in a row, we just had a meeting of 50 seconds today. That shows how the franchise is, and that really connects with the person I am. So very happy to be here."