When Delhi Daredevils began the season, very few would have expected them to win three matches on the trot. However, mentor Rahul Dravid’s tactical partnership with skipper Zaheer Khan has resulted in the franchise beginning the 2016 IPL season with a bang.
Young batsman Sanju Samson has gone on record stating the importance of Dravid to himself and his teammates. Indian Express reported the Kerala-born cricketer speaking about Delhi’s season, so far.
The 21-year old revealed, “Obviously, it’s a very young and fresh team. We have lots of youngsters in the team, so a mentor like Rahul sir motivates us to perform. It’s good to see that we all are doing well under him.”
Samson affirmed that he was growing in stature by interacting with the legendary cricketer. He said, “I have been playing IPL for the last three years and I think I am getting better as a cricketer every year. Mostly I take my learning and experience from Rahul sir.”
Also Read: Delhi Daredevils vs Gujarat Lions: Match Prediction
The right-hander added, “It’s all about learning. It’s all about what your team needs from you. If they send me down the order, I have to finish the games. And if they send me up the order, I will have to build the innings and set stage for my team.”
He also believed that the think tank had set clear plans for Delhi’s next opponents, the Gujarat Lions. Samson asserted, “Every team is tough to play in this tournament. Gujarat has been doing well and we will have to respect them. But, nothing changes in the preparation. Planning wise, we do talk about our opponents and set clear plans.”
On the recent trend of teams preferring to chase rather than setting a total, the middle-order batsman believed, “Many teams are winning while chasing, but we can never control the toss. So, we will have to be mentally ready for anything. We have good bowling line-up in our set up, so we just have to get a good target and in the last match 160 was good enough for us.”
With the pitches getting slower as the tournament progresses, Samson conceded, “We had the World Cup here before this tournament, so wickets in India are getting slower. So, we will need to prepare ourselves according to the opponents and the conditions. The last game in Delhi was a bit slow wicket. So, we will have to face that challenge.”
Delhi Daredevils take on Gujarat Lions at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday at 20:00 IST.
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