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Cricket Players'Rahul Dravid came up to me and said, 'can you play for my team?'': India youngster recalls biggest 'moment of life'
India wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson recalled the 'biggest moment' of his life, when the former India captain was left impressed by his batting back in 2013.
India batsman Sanju Samson is geared up not only to get an opportunity to perform in the three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka starting Sunday but also work with the one and only Rahul Dravid, the coach of the team. Dravid and Samson's association is one that goes way back to early 2000s when the two represented the same IPL franchise the Rajasthan Royals. After finishing his career as a player in 2013, Dravid turned mentor of the franchise in 2014 and looked after the promising youngsters of the team, including Samson.
Years later, Samson will once again be closely working with Dravid, this time for the men's national team. With Samson being one of the two contenders to keep wicket – the other one is Ishan Kishan – the 26-year-old batsman lavished praise on Dravid and narrated the 'biggest moment' of his life when the former India captain was left impressed by Samson's batting back in the day.
"Each and every individual in the India A side or the juniors going into the Indian team have been fortunate to go through a person called Rahul Dravid. We are very lucky to learn our cricket from him," Samson said on Star Sports' Show 'Follow the Blues'.
"I remember going to the Rajasthan Royals trials one day – I batted really well – and he came up to me and asked me a question 'can you play for my team?'. So, that was the biggest moment of my life, and I can never forget that. That shows how great a human being he is, and I really enjoy his company."
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It was in 2014 that Samson earned his maiden India call-up during the tour of England but unfortunately never got to play a game. A year later, Samson finally made his international debut against Zimbabwe but couldn't do much. He had to wait another five years to get his next opportunity for India – in early 2020 but could only managed scores of 6, 8, 2, 23, 15 and 10 against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia. Samson's inconsistency has been the biggest bane of his career and he would hope he can rectify it against Sri Lanka.