Sanju Samson has finally cemented his place as a regular member of the T20I side. Samson had all the talent to become one of the greats of Indian cricket, but inconsistent performances didn't allow his career to take off. He was in and out of the team, but with the arrival of Gautam Gambhir as head coach and Suryakumar Yadav taking charge as the T20I captain, things started to fall in place for Samson. Samson was promoted to open alongside Abhishek Sharma, and even though he didn't do much in the first series against Sri Lanka, he made a resounding comeback, smashing three centuries on the following series against Bangladesh and South Africa. Speaking to R Ashwin on his YouTube channel, Samson said that he was feeling low after poor outing in Sri Lanka, but captain Suryakumar Yadav's words instilled belief in him. “So, suddenly, the change happened after the T20 World Cup. So Gautam bhai came in, and Surya came in as the captain. I was playing a Duleep Trophy game in Andhra. Surya was playing for the other team. He told me, ‘There is a good opportunity coming up for you. We have seven games lined up, and I am going to give you all seven games as an opener’,” said Samson. Samson also revealed that Gambhir backed him and said he would only be dropped from the side if he scored 21 ducks, adding that his words helped him get the best out of him. “The words coming out from the captain's mouth itself actually felt, Oh wow, great. I played two games in Sri Lanka but was unable to score runs. I was a bit down in the dressing room, and Gautam bhai came up to me and asked what had happened,” he added. “I said, 'After a long time, I got a chance, but I failed to capitalise'. He said, 'So what? I'll drop you if you register 21 ducks'. That's the word which he used,” said Samson. “That kind of confidence from the captain and the coach has definitely raised my confidence. That really helped me to go out there and perform,” he added.