Virat Kohli does not need us, we need him: Bumrah
Bumrah, however, stressed that Kohli knows his cricket better than anyone else and that his experience of batting in these challenging conditions was essential from the team’s perspective.
Young wicketkeeper-batsman from Kerala, Sanju Samson, has often grabbed the headlines for his talent and earned praises from the likes of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir.
However, he has failed to translate his talent into international success with only four T20 Internationals in his kitty in the last five years. Samson said that he has learnt to accept his failure in pursuit of a calm demeanour like Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“I have learnt to understand and focus more on my strengths and (be more) accepting (of) the failures. I try to contribute to the team’s cause and try to take the team over the line. I am learning to focus and control my emotions while batting like MS Dhoni,” Samson said during a podcast organised by Rajasthan Royals.
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After making his international debut in 2015, Samson had to wait for more than more than four and a half years to get another chance. Though he failed to produce any brilliance on the field, Samson said that it was a learning experience for him to be around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the New Zealand tour.
In one of the games in New Zealand, Samson was sent to bat in the Super Over, something which made him feel wanted in the Indian set-up.
“It was a great feeling to be trusted by the players such as Virat bhai and Rohit bhai to go out there and bat in the crucial moments. It’s a great feeling when the team and the players consider you to be a match winner.”
Samson’s first year with his Indian Premier League (IPL) side Rajasthan Royals was also the last year that former India captain Rahul Dravid led the side. Speaking about that, he said that it felt like a “dream come true” when Dravid first asked him if he wanted to join the squad.
“Rahul bhai and Zubin Bharucha (RR Head of Cricket) were taking trials for Rajasthan Royals. I played a really good knock there, at the end of the second day, Rahul bhai came to me and asked ‘Would you play for my team?’ It was like a dream for me, to have Rahul bhai come and ask me to play for him,” he said.
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