Sanju’s game awareness is excellent and he makes it count when he gets going: Kumble

Chennai Super Kings opened their account in the TATA IPL 2026 with a 23-run win over Delhi Capitals, while Punjab Kings defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets earlier in the afternoon on Saturday.

Sanju Samson finally broke the shackles and laid the platform for the win with an unbeaten 115. Sanju, who moved from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings during the off-season transfer, failed to weave his wand, as expected, in the previous three games. That cast aspersions on the transfer as Chennai lost their first three games.

However, on Saturday, Sanju was back in his elements and his knock was backed up by some superb bowling by pacers Jamie Overton and Anshul Kamboj.

Sanju can play all around the ground

Former India captain Anil Kumble heaped praise on Sanju for his century and the way he handled the pressure when he was not striking the ball well. “You can see from his wagon wheel that he plays all around the ground. It’s not just that he has a strong off-side or a strong on-side. What was really impressive was that he was looking to play straight, not with a horizontal bat. When your initial thought process is to play with a straight bat, and then you make those adjustments when a bowler pitches it short, it becomes much easier for a batter to score runs,” Kumble said on JioHotstar’s Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live.

“His game awareness is excellent, and when he gets going, he makes it count. We saw that in the T20 World Cup. He didn’t convert those 90s into 100s, but it was different in this game. It was his first hundred for CSK and his fourth overall, a big relief for CSK fans, and also for Sanju Samson, as there was a lot of pressure on him after a tough first three games,” Kumble added.

Another former India player Cheteshwar Pujara weighed in on how such a win will be a confidence booster for CSK. “If you look at the CSK camp, the body language of each and every player, including the support staff, suggested that they needed this win desperately. They will be relieved, and now that they have their first win on the board, they will start believing they have a chance. Once you start winning in the IPL, it’s always about momentum. You begin to believe that you can make it to the playoffs, because when you are losing, no matter how hard you try to maintain a good environment, there is always some negativity. But when you start winning, everyone begins to think positively,” Pujara said.

Shashank’s wickets were the turning point for SRH

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan looked back at the game-changing moment of the Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad match. “It was a game-changing moment. If not for those two wickets, Shashank got both in the same over, Sunrisers would have made 250 easily. That was the kind of start Abhishek and Travis Head gave them, they lost their first wicket at 120,” Irfan said.

Sunrisers get off to a blazing start but end in a whimper as Shreyas leads Punjab home

“Shashank, who doesn’t bowl regularly, asked for the ball himself. He went up to Shreyas and the captain showed confidence in him. He bowled with a plan, went wide to Abhishek, avoided bowling it full, and varied his pace. That was the game right there, the difference between 220 and 250, which could have made things tougher for Punjab. They are in some form at the moment,” Irfan added.

On the clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday, Irfan said: “RCB are travelling now. When they played their first two games at home, they won comfortably, but the moment they went on the road, they lost in Guwahati against Rajasthan Royals. So, there will be a few questions in the camp. I feel the game might be decided by which team bowls better in the end overs, and the toss will be an important factor too. RCB have the form, but in a man-to-man comparison, I feel Mumbai are slightly ahead.”