'I Know How to Deal With The Pressure': Sanju Samson's Unshakable Self-Belief Powers Him to Historic Century

Samson, who has been in the hotseat lately for his inconsistency with the bat and his underwhelming innings so far in the series, came out with a vengeance against Bangladesh and proved his worth in gold, notching a historic century on Saturday.

After losing opener Abhishek Sharma early for just 4 runs, Samson and skipper Suryakumar Yadav took the responsibility up on themselves to get India off to an absolute firecracker of a recovery.

Samson would unleash sweet hell upon the visitors, clobbering boundaries at will.

The wicketkeeper-batter would go on to notch a sensational century in just 40 balls, the second-fastest by an Indian in T20Is and the fourth fastest by a batter from a test playing nation.

The Keralite’s onslaught came to an end at 111 runs, an innings peppered with 11 fours and 8 sixes.

“The dressing room energy and the boys are happy for me. It can get frustrating, I could have done much better. With lots of experience, I know how to deal with the pressure,” Samson stated humbly after picking up his Player of the Match award.

“Playing for the country, you come in with a lot of pressure. That pressure was there, I wanted to perform. I kept reminding myself that I should stick to my basics.”

Samson’s menacing form was in full display as he took Bangladesh bowler Rishad Hossain to the cleaners by smashing him for five sixes in the 10th, en route to his century.

“In the last series I got two ducks. The team management backed me. I have been trying to do something like this (five sixes in an over), I was chasing that and it happened today,” Samson stated.

After a spectacular maiden T20I century by Sanju Samson – 111 off 47 balls — and captain SKY’s scintillating 75 took India to a record-breaking 297/6, their highest-ever total in T20Is, Bishnoi and other bowlers chipped in to ensure Bangladesh were restricted to 164/7.