IPL 2020: Sanju Samson has been in smashing form in this year's Indian Premier League, scoring back to back half-centuries for Rajasthan Royals, helping his side to victories. This has led to several voices demanding his inclusion in the Indian side. The 25-year-old Kerala batsman recently spoke about a conversation with India skipper Virat Kohli that changed his perspective towards fitness. 

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Samson said that he had a word with the Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli during a gym session, when he was representing the national side. He enquired about Kohli’s training routine and how he puts so much energy into fitness. 

“I kept on asking him a lot of such different questions. Then he asked me ‘Sanju how many years are you going to play cricket’, so I said that I am 25 right now, and I can play for another 10 years or so,” the Kerala wicket-keeper batsman recalled. 

In response, Kohli asked Samson to focus on cricket for the next 10 years and do everything else after that. 

“Then Virat told me, after 10 years you can do whatever, you can eat food from Kerala and whatever else you want to do, but you won’t be able to play cricket after these 10 years. So, why don’t you give everything, whatever you have, to cricket in these 10 years,” he said.  

Samson said that this was an eye-opener of sorts for him. Although he was already very dedicated towards his practice, what Virat Kohli said, it only made him want to work harder. 

“So, he really changed my perspective, my dedication towards cricket. I was already very dedicated, but this made me further change the way I think,” Samson added.

The Kerala batsman is rated highly by some former cricketers. But, his first-class stats haven’t been impressive.