Someone's loss might be someone else's gain. Ben Stokes got involved in a freak incident and missed the flight to Australia. And then as his team played the Ashes, Stokes moved to New Zealand to play for Canterbury. This prompted the team management to drop their NSW import - Daniel Sams.

Daniel played for the Randwick-Petersham Club and was a part of the Sydney Thunder Academy but unfortunately missed the bus with the latter for the BBL. But destiny had other better things planned and he was drafted into the Sixer's side as an injury replacement for Henry Thornton. Daniel signed the contract a day before BBL 07 and in his debut BBL game picked up 4-14 against the Thunder unit. Though Sixers lost the contest, Sams proved a point or two to his detractors. After an impressive season with the Sydney Sixers, Sams moved back to the Sydney Thunder for the following season.

His career went from strength to strength thereafter. Developing a host of bowling variations and adding an arsenal of shots to his batting, Sams became the type of all-rounder that no side can look beyond. 2020 saw Sams bag an IPL contract from the Delhi Capitals before he was traded to the Royal Challengers Bangalore the following season. An international debut followed too in December 2020 in a T20I series against India. IPL franchises kept a close eye on Sams and he was bought by the Mumbai Indians in 2022 and the Lucknow Super Giants in 2023. He also played for the Texas Super Kings in the inaugural season of the MLC.

By Kumar Abhisekh Das