“I believe this would have given him massive confidence. Sanju is a fantastic player and a very good human being. His personality is such that he has got a very calm demeanour. And, of course, he is an extraordinary talent. That’s a well-known fact for everyone,” Ashwin said in his YouTube Channel.

Sanju Samson scored 118 runs and remained unbeaten in all three innings in the ODI series against South Africa.

In the first ODI in Lucknow, Sanju scored an unbeaten 86 and almost took India home. India lost the match by nine runs.

“He almost took the game to a stage where he could have pulled it off. Sanju Samson: Chapter 2.0, going on from here will be really good,” said Ashwin.

Sanju enjoying the role of finisher

Ahead of the series decider against South Africa, Samson he has been as the role of finisher by the team India management.

“Absolutely, I have been practising different roles for the past couple of years. See, I am part of different teams, and I have to prepare for the roles I have to fit into the squad. It is a challenging one, but I am enjoying it. See, I have been given this finishing role in the team for the past one year,” he said.

“I was notified of this earlier. Physically I have been doing a lot of work on my top-order batting. But, mentally, I am prepared to react to different situations. I have been learning from the people who have done it earlier. I am also learning it from history and how people have done it beautifully before. So a lot of learning has been done, and I am enjoying this role.”

“After the first game, we had a positive meeting. We didn’t have the game we wanted, but the team management, the coach, and the captain have instilled how special we are and how important it is to keep the process going. That has been the talk in the meeting, and everyone has followed it,” he added.