Indian opener Sanju Samson showered praise on the West Indies skipper Shai Hope, who scored an unbeaten 102 off 50 with four fours and nine sixes in the fourth T20I against India in Hyderabad on Wednesday, October 14.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Samson asserted that Hope has been playing really well and everyone needs to respect what he has been doing for his side, adding that he has been playing some excellent cricketing shots.
“We have been having good discussions in team meetings. We tried a couple of things in the last game and that worked out really nicely. Arshdeep got him out from around the stumps. He’s playing really well and we need to respect what he has been doing. He has been playing some really good cricketing shots,” Samson said in the post-match press conference.
In the 248-run chase, Samson propelled India to a good start, scoring 56 off 23 as he forged a 60-run opening stand with Abhishek Sharma. However, the middle-order collapse couldn’t help India to continue their momentum as they eventually suffered a 24-run loss.
“When you are chasing a score like that, there is no second thought, you just have to back your instincts, you have to back your power playing game and that is what I did actually. I really enjoyed the knock, but I would have liked it to be on the winning side,” he noted.
The five-match series is currently levelled 2-2 with the fifth and final T20I, which will be a series-decider, commencing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17.
“It all comes down to [the] Bangalore game now, we are very charged up, we want to go out there and compete against them. They have been playing some really great cricket, you need to give credit to the West Indian cricket, how they have come here in our home ground and dominated two games. Now it is a final, so let us see how it goes,” he concluded.
