Young cricket player, Sanju Samson performed well in the recent edition of IPL and finished his season as the highest run-scorer from his team, Delhi Daredevils. Though the 22-year-old lost his form in the Ranji Trophy, was troubled by a knee injury and faced disciplinary issues with Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), but he was able to regain his form in IPL. And he is training hard for the upcoming domestic season. In an interview with TOI, “I had struggled with my fitness last season. Since the matches were being played in neutral venues, we had to travel a lot and it would take a toll on my body. I would end up not making the right decisions in pressure situations. So this year, I’ve already started working on my fitness.”Samson is also giving stress on his batting along with fitness and said that working with Rahul Dravid has helped him a lot. “Last year, I wanted to perform desperately. There was too much expectation from me and it bogged me down. It limited my approach as I was thinking a lot and making things complicated. So I got frustrated. At the start of IPL 10, I worked with (Daredevils coach) Rahul Dravid and things started to fall in place. He told me to play with freedom and forget about the results. So instead of thinking about scoring big, I kept a check on my expectations and focused on contributing in every way. I started expressing more and took risks and it all paid off,” he said. He has played for India in just one T-20 international against Zimbabwe in 2015 and is trying hard to make a comeback in the team. And he believes that only scoring runs in IPL will not book a place in the team. Rather, one has to perform consistently to get selected.He wished good luck to his Delhi Daredevils team-mate, Rishabh Pant and denied any competition between them. “I don’t believe in competition as you would feel bad when someone has selected ahead of you. So if Rishabh, who is a great friend of mine, is selected, I’ll wish him the best,” he said.
