‘I showed the selflessness and the intent the team demanded from me’ – Sanju Samson

Despite managing just 48 runs in the recent three-match T20I series against Australia, Sanju Samson is looking at the positives. The India wicketkeeper-batsman recently expressed disappointment, while sounding satisfied for delivering what the team asked of him.

Sanju Samson’s scores in the 20-over format read 23, 15 and 10. However, one attribute that stood out across all three knocks was his hitting-ability. Indeed, the 26-year-old finished the series with a remarkable strike-rate of 141.17. He echoed similar sentiments, saying he achieved success in dominating from the word go by displaying selflessness and intent.

“Obviously, I am disappointed that I could not carry on and make bigger scores. But I think I showed the selflessness and the intent the team demanded from me. Also, I managed to dominate till I got out. In cricket, even if we do everything right, sometimes results may not go our way,” Sanju Samson said.

Commenting on Samson’s recent developments in the game, his batting coach Jayakumar spoke highly of the Kerala star’s upgraded fitness and training regime, which in turn is now helping him time the ball better.

“He [Sanju Samson] has an innate ability to time the ball. Now, he has put in a lot of hard yards in terms of his fitness and training and that has helped him become such a clean hitter of the cricket ball. He is only going to get better because he knows what he needs to do,” Jayakumar, a Chennai-based coach, reasoned.

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‘Everyone sportsperson should experience that bubble feeling,’ says Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson smashed 26 sixes in IPL 2020, second highest in the league

While we saw crowd packing the stands in Australia, the players and support staff had to stay cooped up in bio-secure bubbles. Sanju Samson has now got a four-month experience of staying in bio-bubbles, having stayed nearly three months in one for IPL 2020 before shifting base to Australia.

The explosive right-hander weighed in on the experience, saying it helps people connect with their inner self while also facilitating tighter bonds with the ones staying in the same bubble.

“I think every sportsman should experience that bubble feeling. We always tend to shy away from connecting with our inner selves in normal times. But living in a bubble was a blessing in disguise for me. I got a lot of free time so that I could read and meditate more and also think about my game and devise ways to improve it.

“The biggest advantage of being in the bubble is that you get to interact a lot with your teammates and forge good friendships. This time, my role was that of a senior player [in the Rajasthan Royals squad] and I enjoyed speaking with the junior players about my experiences in the IPL,” Samson elaborated.

Sanju Samson had an explosive start to IPL 2020 before finishing the 13th edition of the cash-rich league with 375 runs at an average of 28.84 in 14 outings. Quite rightly, he had the second-highest strike-rate (158.89) among players who batted at least 14 times.