"Being an Indian cricketer is a challenging thing" - Sanju Samson on not having a fixed slot

Sanju Samson played a whirlwind knock in the third ODI against the West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Tuesday, August 1. After a poor outing in the last game, the wicketkeeper-batter finally lived up to its potential.

Coming in to bat at No.4, Samson took the attack to the opposition with two sixes within his first four balls. He made his intentions clear and continued his aggressive game style. The wicketkeeper-batter smashed 51 off 41 balls at a strike rate of 124.39, including two boundaries and four sixes.

Samson was a happy man after scoring some runs in international cricket. Speaking at the mid-innings break, Sanju Samson stated:

"It feels really great to spend some time in the middle, score some runs and contribute for your country. I had different plans for different players, I wanted to use my feet and dominate the lengths of the bowlers."

Speaking about the challenges of not having a fixed batting slot, the Kerala-born cricketer said:

"Being an Indian cricketer is a challenging thing. I have played domestic cricket for the last 8-9 years and for India here and there, so it gives you a bit of understanding of playing in different positions. It is the number of overs you get and it is not about batting position so you gotta prepare accordingly."

Incidentally, Sanju Samson batted at No.3 in the second ODI in Barbados. He was demoted to No.4 in the ongoing fixture and made the opportunity count with a half-century.

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"With our bowling order I'm confident" - Sanju Samson on defending the total

After a batting debacle in the second game, Team India came up with a much-improved performance in the series decider.

After an opening stand of 143 runs between Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya scored quickfire half-centuries to take the team total over 350.

When asked if the bowlers can defend the total, Samson said:

"It was not easy to get that score, credit goes to the middle-order batters for hanging in and getting that score. With our bowling order, I'm confident."

At the time of writing, the West Indies are reeling at 15/2 in 5 overs with Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze in the middle.