Sanju Samson on How Virat Kohli Helped Him Focus on His Cricket
Samson said that understanding his game of power-hitting, and working hard during the lockdown has helped him.
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Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Sanju Samson in the post-match presentation on Sunday, after the match against Kings XI Punjab, said that he has 10 more years left in him to play cricket. Shedding light on that and how Virat Kohli has helped him in channeling all his energies into cricket, Samson addressed a virtual press conference a day before his side’s game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Samson said that when he was with the Indian team for the T20s, he asked Virat Kohli about his routines and so much dedication he puts into his fitness, so Kohli asked him how many years does he want to play, he replied saying that he is 25-years old currently and wants to play for around 10-12 years more.
Samson added that Kohli told him that he can do anything after 10 years, eat Kerala food, whatever he wants to eat, whatever he wants to do but he won’t be able to play cricket after those 10 years so why not give everything to cricket in that period.
“That changed my perspective and my dedication towards cricket. I was already dedicated and giving everything to cricket, but there was more that I could give.”
In the pre-match Press Conference on Tuesday, Samson also talked about the last game and his team’s form after winning both the games they have played till now in this year’s IPL.
When asked about him refusing a single to Rahul Tewatia in the 16th over of RR’s innings by Glenn Maxwell, Samson said that in a format like T20 each and every over is important. “That moment I thought, Maxwell was bowling, he is an off-spinner and I am a right-handed batsman and was striking really well. I was thinking about hitting 3-4 sixes in that over of Maxwell as Rahul Tewatia was also not in the right form at that moment, so it was the right decision.”
Samson scored 21 runs off that Maxwell over, hitting three sixes.
Talking about the balance of the side and RR preferring to chase in the future, Samson said that with Rahul Tewatia and Jofra Archer coming good with the bat, makes their batting line-up deep with Shreyas Gopal coming in at 9. He also added that decision of chasing also depends upon the amount of dew, which helps the ball to come nicely in the 2nd innings.
Speaking about if he has knocked the doors of the national side, Samson wasn’t sure if he has or not but currently, he wants to focus on performing for the Royals in the IPL and win games for his team. He also talked about that MS Dhoni is one of the best players ever to play this game and no one should be compared to him and think to play like him, on his comparisons with the former Indian wicket-keeper batsman.
On his training and working hard during the lockdown, Samson mentioned that Raiphi Vincent Gomez has helped him for the last 10 years in his game. Gomez is a former Kerala player, who has played in the IPL, for now defunct teams Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. He added that Gomez has played an important role in him becoming a better human being and a better cricketer.
The 25-year old said that he was missing both the presence of the fans and playing on the home soil this year, as according to him, the atmosphere with local crowds is one of the highlights of the IPL.
On his opponents for the Wednesday’s game, Samson said that adjusting to the bigger ground in Dubai will be an important factor as RR played both their games in Sharjah, which has smaller boundaries. But, he mentioned that he has worked hard with RR’s video analyst Manish Shetty and his side will come with confidence for the game against KKR.
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