‘Mumbai Cha Raja’ reverberates in the Wankhede Stadium whenever Rohit Sharma takes guard in the middle. For those not versed in Hindi or Marathi, the 3-word chant means ‘King of Mumbai.’ Although he was born in Nagpur, Rohit was brought up in Borivali. That’s why Rohit considers himself a Mumbai boy, and so does the public.
But the home boy wasn’t playing at the Wankhede in the Mumbai Indians (MI) vs the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) match on April 23. But perhaps even if he had played, he wouldn’t have been ‘Mumbai Cha Raja’. That’s because Sanju Samson has momentarily overtaken that mantle.
Historically, Wankhede hasn’t been Samson’s favourite hunting ground. But some of his career highlights have come here. 5 years ago, he registered his highest individual score, 119, against the Punjab Kings. The result didn’t go his way as the Rajasthan Royals lost by 4 runs.
Samson owns Wankhede again
But his crowning achievement was that 89-run knock from 42 balls in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal against England. Without his knock, India wouldn’t have defended their title, as Jacob Bethell’s hundred almost helped the Three Lions cross the line. Samson returned to the venue with that happy memory, and the result showed.
The wicketkeeper batter anchored CSK to a mammoth xxx-run total. Much like against England, Samson started a bit slow. After the 3rd over, he was 6 (6). It’s a tactic he’s used often. Taking him early on and then exploding. He hammered Hardik Pandya for 18 runs and even took Jasprit Bumrah on. The result was ending the powerplay at 31 (15).
With wickets tumbling around him, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube and Dewald Brevis, Samson had to reassess. Although his fifty came in just 26 balls, he was forced to reign himself with Kartik Sharma settling himself. He remained quiet until the 15th over, and then exploded again.
He identified Krish Bhagat as the weak link. He took him down 15 runs in the 16th, played Bumrah’s last over out and then smashed 16 runs off Bhagat’s second over and the innings last over to reach his 2nd hundred of the IPL 2026 season in 53 balls, with a six off the final ball.
Sanju Samson T20 stats
SpanInningsRunsHighestScoreAverageStrikeRate100s50sCareer2011-320864711930.77139.42755Wankhede2013-3090311933.4415116Sanju Samson becomes ‘Mumbai Cha Raja’ in Rohit Sharma’s absence, continues Wankhede love affair Inside Sport India.
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