MUMBAI: “Two centuries have not been missed. I have 97* and an 89, that itself is a very big deal,” laughed Sanju Samson, making the entire press conference room at the Wankhede Stadium crack. It had been close to an hour since India edged past England by seven runs and Samson, the man of the moment, was still soaking it all in.
If that 97 not out against the West Indies was one of the best knocks of his life, Samson topped it up with another 42-ball 89 in a T20 World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. While the knock took India to the summit clash against New Zealand, it also sealed Samson’s spot in the playing XI for the final.
The Kerala batter knows a thing or two about missing it the last time around. Ask him what it means to be playing in a World Cup final, and Samson is just grateful. He acknowledged it was one of the best moments of his life, but also acknowledged that one more day left in the job.
“It feels really great or relieved that I have actually been trying to do something like this for my country. So just waiting with a lot of patience, a lot of inner work, a lot of training, and a lot of practice. I should be very grateful, but I kind of feel that we have one more step to go. If we do that, then I think all the work, everything was (will be) worth it. So I feel that one more innings should be good. One more match and I'll be very light,” Samson said on Friday night.
Even as he tried to be pragmatic and stay in the moment, the monumental effort of his and what he has finally been able to achieve for India has not lost on him. Especially when he was dropped at the start of the tournament after a poor series against New Zealand. “I think that was very, very challenging for me. I think I definitely wanted to come and do what I'm trying to do now for the country, contribute and win games in the World Cup. 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 level of the World Cup here. But I think you know this format. I think this cricket can get very funny. Even the best in the world actually struggle to score runs in this format. So I think I have to respect the game. I have to come back to my basics, work a bit more from my basics. I think a lot of work went really well.”
“I think when hard times were coming, I think my close people, the people who I love, my support, were with me and I closed all my windows. I shut down my phone. I was not on social media. I'm still not on social media. So less noise, less people interacting with me. I think that really helped me to focus in the right direction and I'm really happy how I'm doing,” Samson explained on the rollercoaster he has had in the last couple of months.
Even as he reflected on the rough times, Samson could not keep the funny side of him away for too long. Asked about the dropped catch by Harry Brook and the opportunity that was given, Samson said it felt like luck was on his side finally. “I was very unlucky in this. And luck also plays a part sometimes. I was very fortunate that one of my bowlers came forward. I have dropped many catches in my batting. So I know that if I had thought more about catches, I wouldn’t have hit the ball. I hit the ball, but it's okay. Next time I will hit a little harder,” he laughed.
The keeper-batter wondered where the T20 game was going as he saw Jacob Bethell and England come close to beating India, but once again credited Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah for India getting across the line. “They were definitely trying to come hard at us. And then we got three wickets in the powerplay. Then I thought, okay, we got the game. But the way Bethell batted and the partnership which they had, I kind of felt here, no, it's still possible. But the way our bowlers came back, and the quality which we have in Arshdeep, in Hardik Pandya, and you know Bumrah. He's a once-in-a-generation bowler, who we are very lucky to have. The way he bowled those six yorkers in line, I think then you have kind of a confidence right there,” explained Samson.
