“I reached out to sir and had huge [long] conversations with him. Even yesterday [Saturday] night, he called me up to check how I am feeling. Getting guidance from someone like him – that clarity, game preparation, awareness and game sense – I’m grateful for everyone who supported me.”
Samson revealed he was “broke” and “completely out of my mind” after the New Zealand series at home, having managed just 46 runs in five innings. He soon lost his place in the XI to Ishan Kishan, and didn’t get his next opportunity until the Super Eight.
“Right after the New Zealand series, I was broken. I was completely out of my mind. I felt like my dreams had shattered. I thought, ‘okay what else can I do?’ But God had different plans,” Samson said. “I suddenly came back into the crucial games [starting with the virtual quarter-final against West Indies]and did what I could for the country. I’m very proud and happy that I was courageous enough to dream about it and things have turned up nicely for me, so I’m really grateful.”
Samson was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad under Rohit Sharma too, but didn’t play in a single game in the USA and the Caribbean then. He revealed his turnaround began then, and the “dream” to deliver what he did in Ahmedabad was born there.
“To be very honest, this entire process started one-two years ago, when I was with the 2024 World Cup-winning team in West Indies,” he said. “I couldn’t get a game, but I kept on dreaming, kept on visualizing, kept on working. This is exactly what I wanted to do then. I thought I needed to put in so much work that this is exactly what I wanted to achieve. By God’s grace today things have turned around.”
“I’m just going through it. It feels a bit surreal. This itself is very big for me, I need to enjoy it right now.”
