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Sanju Samson opened up on his journey with the Indian cricket team, highlighting talks with captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir.
Sanju Samson has seen a career rejuvination since opening in T20Is (PTI)
Sanju Samson revealed that he spoke to the Indian men’s cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir, and their confidence helped him take up the role of opening in T20Is.
Samson’s international career has been marked by early promise, long intervals, and remarkable comebacks. Initially selected in 2014 for India’s tour of England, he spent several years on the periphery, often serving as MS Dhoni’s backup. He made his T20I debut in 2015 against Zimbabwe, but consistent opportunities were scarce, resulting in a four-year hiatus from the national team. He was recalled in 2019 but faced inconsistent form, making it difficult to secure a permanent spot.
Sanju’s breakthrough came in 2022 and hit his first T20I fifty against Ireland, followed by notable ODI performances, including an unbeaten 86 against South Africa. In November 2023, he scored his maiden ODI century against South Africa, earning the Player of the Match award.
The year 2024 was historic, as part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad, Samson scored three T20I centuries in consecutive series, including back-to-back hundreds in South Africa. He went on to register for the most T20I centuries in a single calendar year with three.
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“I’ve been on and off from the team and that was happening for a very long time. Honestly, that wasn’t easy. It was not easy to have those kinds of feelings. I had already played some 8-9 years of international cricket and I’d just played 15 games,” Sanju Samson told Ravichandran Ashwin on ‘Kutti Stories with Ash’.
“I was there, I was not there. And I always tried to keep myself in a positive frame of mind. I kept assuring myself that it would happen, and different people have different journeys. Your journey is different, and be mindful of that, and you will get there whenever you are meant to be’. And suddenly the change happened after the [T20] World Cup.”
“Gautam Bhai came in, and Surya came in as the captain. I was playing a Duleep Trophy game in Andhra. Surya was playing on the other team. That’s when he said, ‘Chetta, there’s a huge opportunity coming up for you. We have seven games lined up and I’m going to give you all seven games as an opener’,” he added.
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That was the boost of confidence that he needed after a few low scores, Sanju continued: “I was like, ‘Super. Seven games as an opener’, it felt great that it came out of the captain’s mouth.”
“And then I played two games in Sri Lanka and got out for a duck in both of them. The memories of being in and out of the team started flooding in, and I thought that was it. I was a bit down in the dressing room, and Gauti bhai saw it.”
“He came up to me and asked, what happened. I said, I got the chance, but got out for zero. He said, ‘So what’s the matter? I will remove you from the team only if you have scored 21 ducks’.”
“That kind of confidence from the captain and coach raised my confidence,” Sanju revealed.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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