Sanju Samson: Sanju Samson was restless after being out of playing-11, then how did he return and become a hero?

New Delhi. India opener Sanju Samson said that his desire to meet the needs of the team helped him overcome the hesitation of competing with his own teammates for a place in the playing eleven during the T20 World Cup, which led to many brilliant performances and led the team to victory. Sanju said in ‘India Today Conclave’, ‘I am a person who likes to do good for others rather than doing good for myself. In the series against New Zealand, I was competing with my own teammates for a place in the team and I was not liking it at all. Sanju admitted that he was completely devastated by not getting a place in the playing eleven.

He said, ‘I was very restless because I knew that my dream was very close. But the team was trying different combinations, so I was wondering whether I am in the team or not. Sanju said, ‘I was completely broken because my dream was to win the World Cup. And I was not even in the playing eleven of the team. So I went away from everyone for five-six days and started taking care of myself again.

He said, ‘I started preparing myself, knowing that you never know what the game will throw at you.’ Sanju got this opportunity in India’s Super Eight match against Zimbabwe in Chennai. 31 year old Sanju did not score much runs, but the team management assured that he will be in the playing eleven in the next four matches.

Samson said, ‘I knew that the team management had faith in me. Right from the Zimbabwe match, we had to win four out of four and the team needed me. From then onwards things became positive for me and I became very excited. His fellow opener Abhishek Sharma was a little disappointed that he could not play the innings as expected from him in the World Cup, one reason for this was stomach infection. But this left-handed batsman scored an important half-century in the final and was very happy to contribute to the team’s victory. Sanju said, ‘From the day I started playing cricket, I had only one dream to play for the country. And when you play for the country, the biggest dream is to win the ICC trophy for your country.

He said, ‘The start was not what I wanted, but still I was happy because the team was doing well and we were winning matches.’ He said, ‘My dream was to become world champion one day. It is not just about one trophy, but it is about how many trophies I can win for my country. I play with this mindset. Abhishek said that he enjoyed batting with Sanju in the top order. He said, ‘Sanju Bhai is a very intelligent person. He is a very loving and caring person. When you have such players in your team, you feel that there is someone who is standing behind you. Sanju Samson has always been like this for us.