India, May 6 -- Away from the Indian dressing room for a while now, Sanju Samson did not forget Gautam Gambhir's philosophy on Tuesday, during Chennai Super Kings' chase against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, even at the expense of letting go of a chance to equal one of Virat Kohli's greatest feats in the Indian Premier League.

For a season that looked all but over for the Chennai Super Kings after a string of losses in the opening half of IPL 2026, the five-time champions bounced back with five wins to climb from the bottom half of the table into playoff contention. In four of those victories, Samson made notable contributions with the bat.

The trend was simple: each time Samson batted beyond the powerplay, Chennai won. On...