MS Dhoni Serves As A Motivation: Sanju Samson

Aug 25, 2020 at 3:11 PM

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MS Dhoni Serves As A Motivation: Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson, who hails from football-loving state Kerala says that MS Dhoni inspired him and provided ‘motivation’ as he too came from a state with no cricketing history. Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, has seen MS Dhoni’s meteoric rise since his debut way back in 2004.  He is certainly an inspiration to budding cricketers coming from small towns who are aspiring to achieve success at international level.

MS Dhoni, who led India to two World Cup victories- one coming in 2007 where India won inaugural T20I World Cup and the other coming in 2011 where India won the 50 over World Cup after a hiatus of 28 long years.

He will, however, continue to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Indian Premier League (IPL), but the focus will be on the other two wicket-keeper batsmen Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson who will try their level best in IPL to secure a birth permanently in the senior Indian team.

Sanju Samson, IPL 2020
Sanju Samson. Photo Credit: Getty Image.

Sanju Samson Says MS Dhoni Has Inspired And Motivated Everyone

Sanju Samson last played for India in January 2020 after making his debut 5 years ago. The Rajasthan Royals wicket-keeper batsman failed to impress in the limited opportunities like his competitor Rishabh Pant who has also failed to perform in the limited-overs white-ball cricket unlike his performance in Tests.

MS Dhoni who debuted under current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly failed to score as he got run out in his first ODI in 2004 but in his fifth one-day he scored 148 against Pakistan off only 123 deliveries. It surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper.

“Yes, Dhoni bhai has inspired all of us from the day he came to play for India in the first match against Bangladesh and then scored that famous century against Pakistan,” Samson told Gulf News.

” His success provides extra motivation for me as he came from Ranchi to become one of the all time greats of the game while I hail from Kerala – both places no cricketing history,” he said.”

Sanju Samson, MS Dhoni
Sanju Samson and MS Dhoni (Image Credit: Twitter)

MS Dhoni captained India from 2007 to 2016 in limited-overs and from 2008 to 2014 in Tests and retired in 2014 from Tests to give the likes of wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha more opportunity.

Under his captaincy, India won 2007 T20I World Cup, 2011 ICC World Cup, 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups and 2013 Champions Trophy and is the only captain in the world to win all three ICC trophies. He is the first and only wicket-keeper to affect more than 150 stumpings across the three formats besides playing the most 332 international matches as skipper.

Sanju Samson Is Focused And Still Has 10 Years Of Cricket Left In Him

Rishabh Pant who is 22 had debuted for India in 2017 after impressive performances for Delhi Capitals in IPL. He has featured in 13 Tests,15 ODIs and 28 T20Is but has failed in white-ball cricket. He has scored 814 runs in 13 Tests averaging 44.35 but in 15 ODIs and 28 T20Is, he averages less than 30 and is yet to score a century after failing to convert starts into big scores.

Sanju Samson, on the other hand, debuted in 2015 against minnows Zimbabwe in T20Is but has featured in only 4 T20Is since then where he failed to score more than 20 even once. However, in domestic cricket, he was leading run-scorer for Kerala in 2017-18 with 627 runs in 7 matches.

In 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy he scored the highest individual total and also the fastest double century in List A after amassing 212 runs off only 129 balls. In 93 IPL matches, he has scored 2209 runs averaging 27.61 and has 2 hundred besides his name.

”No, I don’t think of replacing anybody, all of us are trying to win matches for the country at the end of the day. I am just focusing on ultimately playing for my country,” Samson said.

Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson
Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson while playing for Delhi Daredevils. Photo Credit: IPL/BCCI

Sanju Samson has represented Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012, Delhi Daredevils who are now named Delhi Capitals in 2016 and 2017 before turning out for Rajasthan Royals since 2018 in IPL. He had previously represented the franchise in 2013-2015 as well.

“I have had a very good season in 2019 in domestic, India A and then for India. I have worked hard for the last 8-9 years in terms of my training, game and diet,” Sanju Samson said.

“At this point, I have a good 10 more years of cricket left in me and I will give it my best shot. I am headed in the right direction but have miles to go.”

Both of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson being less than 25 years of age still has a long way to go and maybe seen performing well in future matches of India with MS Dhoni retired from international cricket.

However, backup wicket-keeper, KL Rahul is also in the reckoning with his brilliant performances with the bat. The Karnataka batsman has played in 36 Tests, 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is where his averages have been around 45 in white-ball limited-overs and 34 in Tests. His high average in ODI and T20I gives him an edge over both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.

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