Samson, the hero in India’s 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup win, began IPL 2026 with a string of low scores after being traded to CSK last year. But on Saturday, Samson lit up Chepauk with his scintillating stroke-play, particularly through the off-side, to hit 15 fours and four sixes at a strike-rate of 205.36.

Apart from being the first wicketkeeper-batter to hit a century for CSK, Samson is also the second batter after KL Rahul to score a hundred for three different IPL teams – DC, RR, and now CSK.

“Feels great thanks to you (Ravi Shastri). I think you seem to be my lucky person to meet before every game, so please come before every game, sir.

“But I just wanted to go back and do my basics and believe in myself and just stick to my scoring patterns, actually. So a lot of thoughts came, I think, should I go harder in the start, or should I change my game plan? But I definitely want to stick to what was working, and luckily it came off beautifully today,” Samson said in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters.

He also noted that the Chepauk surface offered early challenges for the batters, particularly during the Power-play, before easing up as the game progressed. “I think to start, it was definitely holding a bit. It was sticking a bit, and when Axar bowled in the Power-play, the ball was holding with the new ball.

“But when the ball became old, I think it got a great wicket to bat on. And we just stuck to our basics, and Aayush definitely had a great partnership with Aayush (Mhatre, who made 59). I think he’s such a great youngster. I think I really enjoyed batting with him,” he added.

When asked about the team's tactical approach to setting a total in the modern T20 era, Samson spoke about favouring a more aggressive, open-ended mindset. “Nowadays, you can't set a target in mind. You just have to, once you are set in, I think you just have to look at it as a big score you can put on the board.

“But when the ball became old, I think it got a great wicket to bat on. And we just stuck to our basics, and Aayush definitely had a great partnership with Aayush (Mhatre, who made 59). I think he’s such a great youngster. I think I really enjoyed batting with him,” he added.

Samson expressed confidence in his bowling unit’s ability to defend the tall total, provided they strike early in the second innings. “It's definitely a challenging score, to be very honest, I think. But with the amount of bowlers that we have, I think if we have a good powerplay, it will be really good,” he concluded.