Sanju Samson says he has learned a lot from failures

Kochi, October 25: Sanju Samson made a return to the India squad on Thursday (October 24) when he was named in the T20I side to face Bangladesh from November 3. It was after a gap of four years Sanju is returning to represent India.

Sanju's only appearance for India was against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2015. He had made a 24-ball 19 in that match. Since then he was out of reckoning but kept himself in the loop through some good efforts in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals.

"It has been a roller-coaster ride for me. If you have a very safe and easy career there are very less things you will learn. I have learnt a lot in the last four to five years. If you have failed a lot of times then you know how to rise up and how to succeed. I have failed a lot of times in my life so I know how to stand up and perform. That has been a blessing," Samson told PTI.

With Kohli getting a rest during the T20Is against Bangladesh, the spot opened up in Indian middle-order and Sanju's recent good form helped his cause. He had made a record-breaking double hundred against Goa in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and also had a blistering 91 for India A against South Africa A in a practice game at Thiruvananthapuram.

But Sanju is not worried about expectations now - by himself or by others on him.

"I don't have any regrets. As I said I have gone through a lot of ups and downs. I had lots of high expectations about myself that I should have performed much better than what I did.

"... That I should have got into the team much before, but lately, I understood that everything has its own time and you have to be patient for your turn. I have been doing that and have become a better person in the process. Have really enjoyed my tough times, to be honest. I have understood who all are with me genuinely and who are not," he said.

As a batsman, Samson feels he is in a really good space. "Mentally and technically many changes have happened in the last five years. I have understood my game a lot more, a lot about myself as a person. I have worked on my strengths and not tried to be the perfect batsman that I tried be for a long time. I understood that no one can be a perfect batsman. Now I keep it simple and enjoy my cricket," he said.

During the 2016-2017 Ranji Trophy season, Samson had left the dressing room in the middle of the game and was subsequently dropped form the Kerala team. Following the 2018 IPL, Samson was left out of the India A team after he failed the yo yo test.
Samson said not clearing the yo yo test was a one-off and he has been working hard on his fitness.

"I have been following my fitness like religion for the past two-three years. There are many ideas which come from different people, physios and trainers talk to you. They give you a schedule and you try to follow it. Then going for the yo yo was completely different for me.

"I was going about my fitness in a special way, but I got a niggle in the IPL (2018) and after that I never got the time to recover before the yo yo test and I didn't communicate to the physio as I thought I would clear the test, but I didn't. It was never a case of fitness being an issue," he signed off .