Opener Sanju Samson acknowledged that he overreached in the last home T20I series against New Zealand in an attempt to secure his spot in India’s starting 11 for the T20 World Cup, which resulted in a run of low scores.
In the current T20 World Cup, Ishan Kishan was selected ahead of Samson and opened with Abhishek Sharma after the Kerala batter misfired against the Kiwis.
However, Samson was called back to break the run of left-handers in the eleven, and he rewarded the management with two consecutive half-centuries, the most recent of which was a smooth 89 off only 42 balls against England in Mumbai in the quarterfinals.
“I think that was very challenging for me. I definitely wanted to come and do what I am trying to do now for the country, contribute and win games in the (T20) World Cup,” PTI quoted Samson, who had also made an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies in the previous match, as saying after the match.
“But I think I was trying a bit too much in the New Zealand series. I wanted to make an impact and get into the (playing) eleven of the World Cup here,” he added.
“But I think this cricket (T20s) can get very funny. Even the best in the world actually struggle to score runs in this format,” he added.
Samson claimed that returning to his fundamentals, working hard, and building relationships with those closest to him all contributed to discovering his best.
“I had to respect the game. I had to come back to my basics, work a bit more from my basics. I think a lot of work did go really well,” he said.
“When hard times were coming, I think my close people, the people whom I love, whom I support, they were with me and I closed all my windows, I (even) shut down my phone. I was not in social media.
“I am still not in social media. So, less noise, less people interacting with me. That really helped me to focus on the right direction and I am very happy how I am doing,” Samson said.
