Rajasthan Royals will be without three of its foreign stars when it takes on Delhi Capitals on Saturday at the Ferozeshah Kotla here, a contest it needs to win to retain a slim chance of making it to the Playoffs.
Batsmen Steve Smith and Jos Buttler, and all-rounder Ben Stokes have all exited the league to be with their respective national squads and prepare for the upcoming Cricket World Cup 2019. The latest to depart was Smith, who left for the Australian camp in Brisbane. Royals, in Smith's absence, will be led by Ajinkya Rahane.
“[Smith’s departure is] a great loss. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, and now Steve Smith. I think we knew this was going to happen before the tournament. We were a bit prepared for it. I think we have enough bench strength to cover it,” Samson stated here on Friday.
The team will keep things simple for the contest on Saturday, Samson declared.
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“[The situation] is very tough for us. But at the same time, it has been very tough for us from the last five matches. We had to win all the matches [and] it has been the same approach. The approach has never been changed. I think we have prepared really well from the first league match we played. We’ll be keeping things simple and just go out and express ourselves,” he said.
The team needs to be positive despite, felt Samson.
“It’s very tough for us for now, but we need to win this match and we need to be positive and think that we will get through it. We can’t play our match thinking that this is our last match. I still want to feel we can still win the cup, so that’s what I need to focus on right now,” he said.
Summing up his own season with the bat, Samson said, “My best part is yet to come. I’ve done reasonably well (337 runs in 11 matches) and I’m happy to contribute to my team’s victory in whatever way is possible. But I need to do a bit more.”
Samson declared he eagerly awaits an opportunity to play for India.
“Thinking about my game, I think I am very confident and I am very happy with the way I’m playing right now in this world’s best T20 format. I think there are three formats India is playing – and this is one of the formats which India is playing and a lot of people get picked from the IPL and I’m very happy that I’m doing it here. I’m excitingly waiting for my opportunity to play for India,” he said.
He added: “There is no point in getting frustrated [at the lack of chances]. I think you can use it as a motivation. It’s not easy to get into the Indian team. [We] know that it’s the World’s No. 1 team. We need to work hard and we need to earn that spot. That’s what I feel.”
The failures he has experienced have only added to his strength as a player, Samson reasoned.
“If you talk about a sportsman’s career, it has its ups and downs. Going through it, it’s a very lucky thing to have. If you go down, only then you would know how to climb up. I’m very lucky in my career I’ve gone down many times, and I’m happy that I’m having all this experience. Coming to the Indian team, we need to know how to come back; you need to be strong enough. I think you only get strong when you fail. I’ve failed a lot of times and I’m strong enough to play for India,” Samson said.
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