I was fortunate to play with Rahul Dravid: Sanju Samson after T20I call-up
BCCI announced the 15-men T20I squad against Bangladesh on Thursday. Opener Rohit Sharma will lead India in the three-match series in the absence of skipper Virat Kohli, who was rested after a hectic season.
In the 15-men squad, wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson got the call-up in the senior team after performing consistently well in domestic cricket. Samson played his sole match for India - a T20I - in July 2015 when a second-string team toured Zimbabwe. He was 19 then.
Samson has been in tremendous form with a double century (212*) in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy, which is also the highest individual score in tournament history.
After his return in the senior squad, Samson said he was fortunate to play alongside legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid at a very young age.
"I was fortunate enough to play with people like Rahul Dravid at the age of 19 and have him as a coach at India A. And meeting lots of people, like Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Joe Buttler - I talk a lot with them about the game," Samson told ESPNCricinfo.
In the Indian Premier League, Samson played both with and under Rahul Dravid for Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals).
Samson also talked about his prolific double ton against Goa in Vijay Hazare Trophy and revealed what kept him going during the magnificent knock.
"Definitely, yes. Batting for the whole 45-50 overs and running hard between the wickets - I was batting with Sachin Baby and he made me run a lot of doubles and triples. I also had to keep for 50 overs."
"After that innings was the biggest challenge of my life. People were seeing that after 20 overs [of keeping], I had a headache. They were saying, you can stop and another keeper can come in. But I wanted to challenge myself. It took two to three days to recover after that," said Samson.
The three-match T20I series against Bangladesh will start from November 3 in New Delhi.
