He was one of three changes that India made for the match, the other two being the inclusion of Manish Pandey and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Samson may have over 3000 runs in T20s but has only one international appearance under his belt -- he had made his debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2015. India have played 73 T20Is since then, which is the most number of matches between appearances for an Indian player in the shortest format of the game.
The record was previously held by Umesh Yadav, who did not play a T20I between 2012 and 2015 in which time India played 65 T20Is.
Samson has been part of the Indian squad for the past eight T20Is, making it to the international scene after some consistent performances in domestic cricket. He started his innings with a first-ball six on Friday. However, he was dismissed off the very next ball he faced as India lost four wickets between the 10th and 13th overs.