Sanju Samson achieved a major feat by hitting a four off Kagiso Rabada in the ongoing IPL 2026 match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, April 26.
There were reports that Sanju Samson will lead Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans, but captain Ruturaj Gaikwad returned and both the Indian stars opened the batting at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Sanju Samson joins 5000 run club in CSK vs GT IPL 2026 match
Sanju Samson needed only five runs to reach the 5000-run mark in IPL and he achieved the feat in spectacular fashion in the second over against Gujarat Titans. The Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper took 180 innings to join the elite list of legends to reach this figure.
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With this, Samson became the seventh-fastest player to reach the milestone in terms of innings, but when it comes to balls faced, the CSK star became the third-fastest player to reach 5000 IPL runs, taking 3555 balls, after AB de Villiers (3288 balls) and David Warner (3554 balls).
In a major achievement, Samson became the fastest Indian player to score 5000 runs in the league, surpassing Mr IPL Suresh Raina in terms of balls. In doing so, the Kerala star left behind Indian icons like MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Fewest balls to reach 5000 runs in IPL (Indian)
3555 – Sanju Samson*
3620 – Suresh Raina
3688 – KL Rahul
3691 – MS Dhoni
3817 – Rohit Sharma
3827 – Virat Kohli
3962 – Shikhar Dhawan
However, the CSK stars could not stand against the lethal pace attack of Gujarat Titans. Mohammad Siraj and Kagiso Rabada were giving tremendous balls to Samson and putting pressure on him before finally catching the big fish in the powerplay itself.
It was Rabada who gave the first and important success to the Titans by dismissing the right-handed batsman. This was a big wicket, as he was in great form and had come into this match having scored a match-winning century against Mumbai Indians.
The South African fast bowler sent a fast ball outside the off stump. Samson saw the spot and tried to hit it hard towards the off side, but could not hit it properly. The ball touched the edge of his bat and went back. GT wicketkeeper Jos Buttler ended his stay with a simple catch.
The wicket of Samson (11 runs off 15 balls) caused a small collapse for CSK. Rabada dismissed Urvil Patel for 4, while Siraj dismissed Sarfaraz Khan, who was out for a duck. This put the five-time IPL champion Chepauk under a lot of pressure.
GT’s bowlers were so good in the powerplay that they gave only 28 runs in the first six overs against CSK and also took three wickets. With this, the Men in Yellow recorded the second lowest powerplay score in the ongoing IPL 2026.
