Sanju Samson 2.0: India batter reveals roles of Gambhir, Suryakumar in revival

Sanju Samson has revealed the roles India coach Gautam Gambhir and Surykumar Yadav has played in his revival.

As a T20I batter after his hundred against South Africa in the first match of the series on Friday, November 8. Samson scored a blistering 107 off just 50 balls as the India batter continued to make himself a vital cog up top for the new look T20I side.

This was Samson’s second T20I hundred on the trot, a record for an Indian batter, and helped his side post 202 runs in their 20 overs. South Africa would crumble in their chase and India won the match by 61 runs to take a lead in the series. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Samson opened up about doubting himself during his initial rough phase in the Indian team.

The Kerala batter said he used to reassure himself that he could contribute to the team and always backed himself.

“I feel honestly, I have faced a lot of failures in my career. Actually, I have had more failures than success in my career. When you go through that fear, you tend to doubt yourself a lot. People will say a lot and social media will play its role. But you also think a lot about yourself. Are you made for international level? You’re scoring in IPL, but why not in international matches?”

“But with my experience, I know my abilities. If I spend some time on the wicket, I have the shot-making ability against spin and pace. I know I can help the team with my contributions. So I always used to tell myself that, even if you have lows, the upside is also good,” said Samson.

Got a lot of tips from Gautam bhai and Surya to work on
Samson would reveal the support he had got from Gambhir and Suryakumar during his time with the team. The batter said the duo would tell him to work against spin by getting bowlers from Kerala and playing on rough tracks.

“When you have a supporting captain like Suryakumar yadav and Gautam bhai and VVS Laxman sir, they all support you during failures.”

“The communication you get during failures is important. I got a lot of tips from Gautam bhai and Surya to work on. They would say, your play against spin needs improvement. Get the spinners from Kerala and play on rough wickets. So if you have the Indian captain on call telling you what to work on, you have the confidence from the skipper that he wants you to do well. So all those small things plays a huge role,” said Samson.

India and South Africa will face off in the second T20I on November 10, Sunday.