Sanju Samson Reveals Clear Message From Gautam Gambhir & SKY: ‘Was Doubtful After a Couple of Ducks in Sri Lanka But…’:

Sanju Samson ignited the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, smashing his maiden T20I century against Bangladesh. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter, who debuted internationally in 2015, finally had his moment in the sun, achieving the fastest century for Team India in the format. His blistering 111 runs off just 47 balls, studded with 11 fours and 8 sixes (including six in a single over), propelled India to a mammoth 297 runs – their highest T20I score and the second-highest in the format’s history.

Sanju’s knock helped India post their highest T20I score of 297 runs which is also the second-highest team total in T20I history. Speaking at the post-match press conference, the wicketkeeper-batter stated that after experiencing a long streak of failures, he has learned how to deal with pressure.

“As a batsman, you have to keep being aggressive, keep looking at the scoring options, and the risk is high. And when the risk is high, definitely there are a lot of failures also. So with all the experience and with so many years of playing IPL and playing international cricket, I have somehow learned to cope with the pressure and the failures,” Sanju told reporters.

The 29-year-old further thanked the skipper – Suryakumar Yadav – and coach – Gautam Gambhir – for showing faith in him despite enduring a poor run in the Sri Lanka tour in July. Sanju said he was doubtful of getting another chance to prove himself after securing back-to-back ducks in Sri Lanka T20Is but was backed by the team management.

“A lot of credit has to go to the dressing room, the leadership group. I think the captain and the coach have been backing me like anything. I was a bit doubtful after a couple of ducks in Sri Lanka that I will be getting a chance in the next series. But they backed me and they kept on saying that we will back you no matter what.

“I think we have committed as a batting group to go out and dominate every game we play in this format. So as a team, we are doing it and I am very grateful that I did something good for the team today,” he added.