There were loud cheers for Sanju Samson, not just from the Hyderabad crowd, but also from his teammates as he won the Player of the Match award
India were a happy camp on Saturday following yet another flawless show against Bangladesh. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side won the series finale by 133 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad and subsequently scripted another clean sweep under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Sanju Samson played a vital role in India scripting the whitewash as the 29-year-old smashed a 47-ball 111 to become the first wicketkeeper-batter from the country to notch up a ton in the international format. Getting to the mark in just 40 balls, en route to which he even smashed five sixes in an over, Samson also became the second-fastest Indian to the feat. His knock, along with a 173-run stand for the second wicket with captain Suryakumar saw India post their highest-ever T20I total of 297/6 before the bowlers restricted Bangladesh to just 164 for seven.
There were loud cheers for Samson, who finally proved his worth, and earned himself a longer rope in the format, not just from the crowd, but also from the teammates themselves. In fact, when Samson was awarded the Game-Changer award and the Player of the Match trophy, most of the Indian players couldn’t keep calm. Visuals showed that all-rounder Hardik Pandya fell on the ground laughing, while Suryakumar and fast bowler Arshdeep Singh seemed to cheer the loudest. Other players like Ravi Bishnoi, Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma joined in as well.
Samson explains team reaction
The reaction from the fellow Indian players left presenter and former India cricketer Murali Kartik curious during the post-match presentation as he asked Samson about it, and the Kerala-based cricketer too, seemed amused.
“The dressing room energy and the boys really have lots of happiness fo
r me. I am very happy. They are happy that I did well,” he said looking at his teammates.
Samson also opened up on how the India leadership group backed him despite his failures in the Sri Lanka series earlier this summer, where he incurred back-to-back dismissals for duck.