CSK Coach's Big Admission: 'Sanju Samson Not Far Behind MS Dhoni' In This Regrad

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling coach Eric Simons has compared Sanju Samson to legendary captain MS Dhoni, praising the calm presence the wicketkeeper-batter brings to the team environment.

Samson, who joined CSK in a high-profile trade that saw Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran move to Rajasthan Royals, produced a match-winning unbeaten 115 against Delhi Capitals, securing CSK’s first win of 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL).

The century followed a difficult start to the season for Sanju Samson, who had scores of 6, 7 and 9 in his first three innings as Chennai slumped to consecutive defeats. Despite the early setbacks, Simons said Samson remained composed and never showed any signs of panic.

“I’ve had the privilege to spend many years playing,

being involved with Dhoni, he’s one of the calmest cricketers I’ve ever come across. And Sanju Samson’s not far behind that, he just understands the game from that perspective, I’ve seen no panic, no sense of practising more, doing more, maybe even less,” Simons said at the post-match press conference.

Back Home For Sanju

During a short break after their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Samson briefly returned home before rejoining the squad. Simons stressed that the batter’s confidence and class were never in doubt, even during his lean patch.

“When you’ve got the class of a player like him, you know it’s just temporary if you have a bad run of form and sometimes it’s about luck, he got a great delivery from (Nandre) Burger at one game, it’s just the way it goes, one ball goes for four to the boundary, he edges one, he gets caught, so there was never any doubt that this was coming and I think the mindset of a cricketer of his stature is important, you’ve just got to keep trusting him, believing in your quality and certainly he’s got that sort of an abundance,” the South African added.