Indian wicketkeeper Sanju Samson revealed that he has been trying to hit five sixes in an over for a long time after his match-winning knock against Bangladesh in the third T20I on Saturday, October 12 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Samson registered his maiden T20I hundred, hitting 111 off 47 balls with the help of 11 fours and eight sixes.
During his innings, he ripped the Bangladesh spinner Rishad Hossain to shreds hitting him for five consecutive sixes in the tenth over of the first innings. Samson made good use of the flight given by the spinning wrist, using it to his advantage and proceeded to hit him over the head for four maxes.
IND vs BAN 3rd T20I Highlights
He finished the over with a maximum over deep mid-wicket and managed to score the joint second-highest runs in an over by an Indian player in T20Is, equaling Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma’s feat against Australia in 2023. Opening up on the incident after the game, Samson revealed that he had been trying to achieve the feat for a long time, as his mentor had wanted him to, and he was happy to finally succeed.
“The locker room and the leadership group that we have, they keep telling me, ‘I know the type of talent you have and we’re going to support you no matter what.’ In the last series I got two ducks and came back to Kerala thinking ‘kya hoga bhai’ but they supported me in this series and I am very happy that I gave something to make my captain and coach smile. (On his winning shot) It has a long history. I have been trying to do something like this (five sixes in an over) since last year. I was chasing him and it happened today,” Samson said in the post-match presentation.
Speaking further, Samson also spoke about his thought process after failing to convert chances into big scores at the international level.
I’ve failed a lot, so I know how to manage my mind accordingly: Samson
“It can get frustrating knowing what you can do out there and the way I was batting, I thought it could have gone a lot better. These thoughts keep coming into your head. With a lot of experience and so many matches I’ve played, I know how to handle pressure and setbacks. I have failed a lot so I know how to manage my mind accordingly. I keep telling myself that I just have to focus on the process, keep training, keep believing in myself and one day it will come soon,” he added.
Samson put on a massive 173-run partnership off just 70 balls with skipper Suryakumar Yadav (75 off 35) for the third wicket. The duo helped India post the highest T20I score by a Test nation of 297/6 and the second highest overall.
In reply, Bangladesh were restricted to 164/7 in their 20 overs, with Ravi Bishnoi (3/30) and Mayank Yadav (2/32) the top wicket takers. As a result, India won the match by 133 runs and completed a 3-0 victory in the T20I series.
