New York [US], June 3 (ANI): Indian batter Sanju Samson, who earned a place in India’s T20 World Cup, said that he is prepared for the marquee tournament and that he has learnt from his failures and success.
Samson, who made his international debut in 2014 in a T20I match, has had ups and downs, having played just 25 T20Is and 16 ODIs for India over the last decade.
His T20 stats has been disappointing as he has scored just 374 runs at an average of 18.70 with one half-century. a strike rate of 133.09 and best score of 77.
Samson has made his way into the T20 WC squad after a career-best Indian Premier League (IPL) which helped take Rajasthan Royals (RR) to the playoffs. He scored 531 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46, with five half-centuries. His best score was 86*.
🗣️🗣️ 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙪𝙥 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜
Staying positive, learnings from setbacks and warm reception from fans 🤗
Up close and personal with Sanju Samson 👌👌 – By @RajalArora
WATCH 🎥🔽 #TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup | @sanjusamson
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 3, 2024
In a video by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Samson said he keeps adapting his game. This is his first World Cup across any format.
“10 years of many failures, a few successes here and there. Life and cricket taught me all I needed to know ahead of this tournament,” said Samson.
Samson said that during the IPL, his mind was occupied with a lot of things to do and think over as a captain of his team. But despite all this, the T20 WC selection was at the back of his mind.
“It is the best thing that has happened to my career, a huge thing. I knew that I had a decently good season in IPL. But I also knew how tough it was, dependent on team’s wants, management etc. The moment I got convinced that ‘Sanju you are ready’, life and cricket gave back to me. That is how I look at it,” he added.
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
The blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan will take place on June 9. India will later play tournament co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) to wrap up their Group A matches.
In the tournament, India will be aiming to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then, India has reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, semifinal in 2015 and 2019, the title clash of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and 2023, T20 WC final in 2014, semifinals in 2016 and 2022 but failed to secure a big ICC trophy.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. (ANI)
