Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson opened the innings for Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians on Thursday, April 23, and played an unbeaten knock of 101 runs from 54 balls. The former Rajasthan Royals skipper reached the 100-run mark by hitting MI pacer Krish Bhagat for a four on the last ball of CSK’s innings.
The century by Samson for Chennai Super Kings is his second century in this year’s IPL and overall fifth in the league’s history.
It was also his sixth century as a designated wicketkeeper-batter in T20s. He now tops the list of Indian wicketkeeper-batters to score the most 100s in T20s. Samson, who joined CSK from RR in a trade deal ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, has played 235 T20 matches as a designated wicketkeeper-batter and
now has six centuries to his name.
He is followed by Ishan Kishan, who has slammed five centuries in 150 T20 matches as designated wicketkeeper-batter.
Most T20 100s by designated wicketkeeper-batters (Indians)
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | RUNS | 100s |
| Sanju Samson | Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, India, Kerala, Rajasthan Royals | 235 | 6298 | 6 |
| Ishan Kishan | East Zone, India, Jharkhand, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 150 | 4282 | 5 |
| Rishabh Pant | Delhi, Delhi Capitals, India, Lucknow Super Giants, North Zone | 201 | 5027 | 3 |
| Urvil Patel | Baroda, Gujarat | 31 | 944 | 3 |
| KL Rahul | Delhi Capitals, India, Karnataka, Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 103 | 4171 | 2 |
| Wriddhiman Saha | Bengal, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, India A, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tripura | 226 | 4417 | 2 |
Only Quinton de Kock has scored more T20 centuries as a designated wicketkeeper-batter than Samson.
De Kock, who is playing for the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2026 match against CSK, has scored 9 centuries so far as designated wicketkeeper-batter in 397 T20 matches.
Most wickets in T20s by designated wicketkeeper-batters
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS | 100s |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 397* | 11445 | 9 |
| Sanju Samson | India | 235* | 6298 | 6 |
| Ishan Kishan | India | 150 | 4282 | 5 |
| Kamran Akmal | Pakistan | 282 | 6424 | 5 |
| Jonny Bairstow | England | 129 | 3586 | 3 |
Samson now has scored three centuries as designated wicketkeeper-batter in 122 IPL matches. De Kock also has three IPL centuries to his name as designated wicketkeeper-batter in 102 IPL matches played so far.
