‘Learned to finish matches from Virat, Rohit and Dhoni’:Samson shares experience after finishing off in style; Gambhir, Surya applaud Sanju

India defeated West Indies by 5 wickets in Kolkata. Sanju Samson was the hero of this victory, who played a match-winning innings of unbeaten 97 runs off 50 balls and became the Player of the Match. After the match, Samson said that he learned to finish matches from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Meanwhile, coach Gautam Gambhir called him a world-class player, while praising Jasprit Bumrah, Samson said that Bumrah has always supported the team. ‘Learned to finish matches from Virat, Rohit and Dhoni’ – Sanju Samson Samson credited his success to the team’s senior players. He said, “I have been playing in this format for a long time. I have about 12 years of IPL experience and I have been part of the national team setup for the last 10 years.” “Although I haven’t played many international matches (about 50-60), but sitting in the dugout I have closely watched legends like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. I have spent almost 100 matches just observing how they finish matches and adapt their game according to situations,” he added further. Career full of ups and downs, doubted himself too Recalling his journey, Sanju said, “I had dreamed of playing for the country since childhood. Today is very special for me. There were many ups and downs in my career. Many times I doubted myself, but I kept faith. I thank God that I got this opportunity today. This is one of the biggest days of my life.” ‘Reaching semifinals is the result of team’s hard work’ – Suryakumar Yadav After the match, Suryakumar said, “This victory is very special for us. This match was like a quarter-final. The way players performed under pressure is commendable. Based on how we have played since the beginning of the tournament, we deserved to reach the semifinals.” Surya on Sanju: ‘Good things happen with good people’ About Sanju Samson’s match-winning innings, the captain said, “I always say that good things happen to those who wait and work hard. Even when Sanju was out of the team, he kept working on his skills. Today he has reaped the rewards of that hard work. The way he handled the innings turned the match in our favour.” Surya explains the planed strategy againt West Indies The Indian captain explained that while chasing the target of 196 runs, the team had made their strategy keeping the dew factor in mind. He said, we knew that due to dew the ball would come nicely onto the bat and even a target of 200 runs could be achieved. Therefore, our plan was to take the match till the end. The bowlers also performed well according to their plan. ‘Sanju paced the innings very well’ – Gautam Gambhir Coach Gautam Gambhir, speaking about Sanju Samson’s batting, said, “Sanju is a world-class player. He has experience and he showed it brilliantly.” “He also played his role in the match against Zimbabwe. Here, instead of batting recklessly, he progressed his innings very wisely. I hope he will improve his performance further from here,” he added further. Jasprit Bumrah is our ‘banker’ – Gambhir Gautam Gambhir, giving credit for the victory to the entire team, said, “Not just Sanju, but Shivam Dube also kept the match in our favor by hitting two important boundaries at the end. Jasprit Bumrah is like a ‘banker’ for us. Whenever the team needs, we go to him. Throughout this run chase, we never felt that we were out of the game.”