Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant
Five years after his international debut for India, Sanju Samson received a recall from the team management last November as a backup for Rishabh Pant. But in the little opportunities he received - a T20I appearance against Sri Lanka at home and in the tour of New Zealand - Samson failed to leave a mark. And amid Pant's poor run of form, KL Rahul hit the jackpot off an accidental opportunity which now leaves him in the top of the race for the wicketkeeper's spot, especially with MS Dhoni retired.
But Samson remains unfazed by this competition and believes that he is heading in the right direction.
"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 told Gulf News. 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. 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."
Samson also talked about Dhoni, who only last week had announced his retirement from international cricket. Samson admitted that Dhoni's rise from a place of no cricketing history to being one of the most influential player ever in world cricket is a truly inspirational story.
"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 said.
" 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."
