Sanju Samson will join the Kerala Ranji Trophy squad for the second round starting Friday. (PTI)
Fresh from smashing his maiden T20I hundred against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, Sanju Samson has pinned hopes on representing India in the longest format.
Samson, who recently struck the second-fastest hundred by an Indian in 40 balls against Bangladesh, said that he aspires to play Test cricket for India. The 29-year-old has also joined the Kerala squad for their second-round Ranji Trophy fixture against Karnataka in Bengaluru, starting Friday.
“I believe I have the skill set to succeed in red-ball cricket and I just don’t want to restrict myself to white-ball cricket. My desire is to play Test cricket for India. Before the Duleep Trophy, the leadership group had told me they were considering me for red-ball cricket and asked to take it seriously and play more Ranji Trophy matches,” Samson told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Samson recently represented India D in the Duleep Trophy second and third rounds in Anantapur. Samson scored his 11th First Class ton in his second outing for India D. The Kerala batter featured in four Ranji Trophy games last season, scoring 176 runs, before his team failed to reach the knockouts.
“My preparation was good this time around. After the series against Sri Lanka, I trained at the RR (Rajasthan Royals) Academy with Rahul Dravid sir and Zubin Bharucha and worked on my game. The century in the Duleep Trophy has given me a lot of confidence as it came against some of the best bowlers in the country,” Samson added.
Kerala, led by Sachin Baby, earned an eight-wicket win over Punjab in their Elite C group opener in Thumba on Monday. Kerala have also included pacer Basil NP into the squad which includes professional spinners Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarvate and all-rounder Baba Aparajith.
Playing their maiden FC match for Kerala, Sarvate and Aparajith were instrumental in Kerala’s comeback win over Punjab, recording 13 wickets between them.
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