It was in 2013 that Sanju Samson first made headlines in the Indian domestic circuit. He put up respectable scores in the IPL and for India A but somehow was not able to replicate the same success in national colours. Having received his first India call-up in 2014, Samson made his debut in a T20I against Zimbabwe and it took him nearly four years to play his second, third and fourth games for India managing single digit scores in each innings. However, the 2020 IPL season could prove to be the career-defining one for Samson as he has already played two crucial knocks for Rajasthan Royals that have helped his team win.
In an exclusive interview with Cricinfo, Sanju Samson recently revealed an interesting conversation he had with India skipper Virat Kohli and explained how the words of wisdom from Kohli helped him to have a better approach towards the game.
“When I was in the gym with the Indian team, I was training with Virat bhai. So I just asked him how is his training routine, why does he put so much energy into fitness and all? I keep on asking him a lot of different questions.” says Samson adding, Virat asked him how many years are you going to play, so he replied that he is 25 and expects to play around 10 more years.
Virat then said, “After these 10 years, you can do anything, you can eat Kerala food, you can do whatever you feel like but you won’t be able to play cricket after these 10 years. Why don’t you give everything you have in these 10 years.”
I think that changed my perspective, my dedication towards cricket, says Sanju. “I was already dedicated and used to give everything but there was something more which I could have given. So I was really happy to hear that from him.”
He also responded to reports which compared his ability to clear the boundary at will to that of MS Dhoni. "No one can play like him and no one should try to play like him," said Samson. "It's not at all easy to play like MS Dhoni, or think to play like MS Dhoni, think we should leave him aside. He is one of the best finishers or best cricketers to ever play this wonderful game. So I never think of playing like MS Dhoni,” he added.
Sanju said, “I love to be myself whenever I play the game, or understand what is Sanju Samson and be myself whenever I play a game."
Watch the interview: