Eight years, 39 international matches and no century; Sanju Samson faced the heat of not reaching the three-digit mark. He was in only to be left out on the bench or the squad in the next series. But now, the monkey is off his back. He has hit his maiden century in ODIs to send a message to the selectors. And he was emotional after the century in the IND vs SA 3rd ODI.
Sanju Samson said, he had been putting in a lot of physically and mentally and finally the results went his way.
“It feels really emotional, going through the emotions now. Very happy to achieve this. Have been putting in a lot of work physically and mentally, happy to see the results go my way now,” Sanju Samson said after scoring 108 off 114 balls in Paarl.
Sanju Samson came at a crucial time with India losing quick wickets. But from 49/2, he played the anchor role, scoring his fifty off 66 balls. And in that first half of his innings, he put up a crucial 116-run stand with Tilak Varma to keep South African bowling attack at bay.
Then he put his feet on the gas. He scored 44 runs in the last 24 deliveries, striking at 183.33 as India posted 296/8 in the IND vs SA 3rd ODI.
“They bowled really well with the new ball, and the older ball was getting slower and more difficult to bat. So after KL got out, they had the momentum where Maharaj was bowling very well. But Tilak and I stuck it out and went strong at the end. We were playing an extra all rounder today. So Tilak and I had decided that we have to go hard from the 40th over onwards,” Sanju Samson said.
