From the rough: Sanju Samson overcomes doubt to find belief

Not first-choice opener, Samson’s match-winning 97* was hailed by skipper and coach after win

- Somshuvra Laha

The inconsistency was frustrating, but life too had been unfair to Sanju Samson. So, when he finally blazed an unbeaten 50-ball 97 against West Indies at Eden Gardens on Sunday night to ease India into the T20 World Cup semifinals with a five-wicket win over West Indies, the 31-year-old was emotional, calling it “one of the greatest days of my life

Samson has been in, out, in, and then again out of the eleven, all in the span of just over a month. In the five T20Is against New Zealand in late January, Samson's scored 10, 6, 0, 24, 6—46 runs at an average of 9.20. India were convinced he had got enough chances, so he was excluded for Ishan Kishan who had blitzed through domestic cricket and cemented his place in that series India won 4-1.

Achance came Samson's way against Namibia — India’s second game of the World Cup -

only because Abhishek Sharma had a stomach bug. Though he made an explosive start (22 off 8 balls), another wait followed, this time a fortnight, till India recalled him, deciding to play all three openers and bring in the right-left top combination against Zimbabwe in Chennai after the heavy defeat to South Africa - India were dismissed for Ill.