Sanju Samson was in the best frame of mind going into this IPL, coming off a hat-trick of game-winning scores for India in their triumphant T20 World Cup campaign. But, failure to register a double-digit score in the first three matches for his new franchise, Chennai Super Kings, had once again created doubts in Samson’s mind.
That is till he bounced back on Saturday, with an unbeaten 115 that laid the platform for CSK’s first win of the season.
Falling back on the basics and scoring patterns did well to bail Samson out in what certainly was a timely innings from the keeper-batter. “To be very honest, no matter how much of a form you’re in and how many matches you have won for your country, a couple of failures can definitely put a lot of doubts in your mind,” Samson said after the Super Kings’ 23-run win over Delhi Capitals in Chennai on Saturday.
“But I just wanted to go back and do my basics and believe in myself, and just stick to my scoring patterns. So, a lot of thoughts came. Should I go harder at the start or should I change my gameplan? But I wanted to stick to what was working and luckily, it came off beautifully.”
Bringing his mind and body to the basics worked for Samson as he turned it around after an inauspicious start in Super Kings colours. “I’ve failed a lot, and that tells you how you need to come back,” he said.
“Mentally, you think if you need to go a bit hard, or if you need to change your gameplan. So, the mind gets a bit here and there. It’s then when you need to bring your mind and body to the basics.
“I am 31 years old and have spent a lot of time in this sport, so I need to know what my basics are.”
Samson elaborated: “My basics are to mentally get in a different zone. As a batsman, you need to come
back to timing the ball, just looking at the ball coming out of the bowler’s hand and all those things.”
MS-like calm
Samson’s calmness matches that of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s, feels CSK bowling coach Eric Simons.
“MS Dhoni is one of the calmest cricketers I’ve ever come across, and Sanju Samson is not far behind that. He just understands the game from that perspective.
“I’ve seen no panic (from Samson). The mindset of a cricketer of his stature is important. You just got to keep trusting and believing in your quality and certainly, he’s got that sort of in abundance,”
Simons said.
