Sanju Samson was on fire for Team India in the third T20I against Bangladesh, which was played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on October 12. The 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batter opened for the Suryakumar Yadav-led side and hammered 111 runs from 47 balls. He completed his maiden T20I century in just 40 balls and, in process, also became the second fastest Indian batter to a century in the shortest format of the game.
His super show with the bat in the last match of the bilateral series silenced his critics, who time and again have questioned his potential to perform at the highest level. Samson, who has scored a century in his last T20I and ODI match for India, in a recent interview has now opened up about his dream to play Test cricket for India.
According to the right-handed batter, who was part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad, he enjoys playing the red-ball format of the game since childhood, and it’s his dream to play Test cricket for the Indian team.
“Mere ko sabse maja toh Test cricket mein he aata hai. Test cricket ka maja toh apko kahi aur nahi mil skta. Vo pura apko nichod leta hai. Test cricket mein bande ka quality dikhta he hai. 5 din ka mehnat jo hai, mental toughness, physical toughness hai aur usme maja bahut hai. Mujhe jab bhi mauka milta hai, main aake Kerala ke liye Ranji Trophy khelta hoon kyuki vo Ranji mei 4 din tumhara pura nichod leti hai cricket. Toh usme bahut mehnat lagta hai. Usme jab success milta hai itna mehnat kar ke toh uska maja kuch aur he hai (I enjoy playing Test cricket the most. You can’t have the feel of playing Test cricket anywhere else. It completely squeezes you. The real quality of a cricketer is visible in Test cricket. There is hard work of 5 days, mental toughness, physical toughness, and there is a lot of fun in it. Whenever I get a chance, I come and play Ranji Trophy for Kerala because it squeezes you completely for 4 days in Ranji cricket. So it takes a lot of hard work. When you get success in it after working so hard, it gives great pleasure)," Sanju said on Vimal Kumar’s YouTube channel. (From 13:52)
“Mujhe Test cricket khelne ka bachpan se bahut hai. Mai bolta nahi hoon itna, Mann ke andar he rakhta hoon, but I have always wanted to play Test cricket for my country. So abhi dekhte hai aage (I have been wanting to play Test cricket since childhood. I don’t say this much; I keep it in my mind, but I have always wanted to play Test cricket for my country. So let’s see what’s ahead)" he added.
Samson, who has 3834 runs to his name in 65 First Class matches played so far, was last seen in action for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match against Karnataka, which was played in Alur. He remained unbeaten on 15 runs in that match.
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