'Took a bit of time to move on' - MI pacer Daniel Sams reflects upon 35-run over against KKR

Daniel Sams opened up about what he went through after Mumbai Indians’ defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders where he conceded 35 runs in an over as Pat Cummins punished him to bring up the joint-fastest fifty in the history of the IPL.

Sams said that it took him time to move on from that incident, but he believes that all this is part of an athlete’s life. After the incident, Sams worked on himself and became the reason behind MI’s final-over victory against the then top-seeded Gujarat Titans. Sams defended nine runs in the final over of the game as Mumbai registered their second victory of the season.

“You question what you do – it’s natural, all athletes do that. It took a bit of time to move on from that and see what I can learn from this,” Sams said during the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against KKR.

“The last win is massive for our confidence – not so much the result but how we dealt with mentally in those situations. The earlier games I was nervous but the last two games I went out there like there was nothing to lose,” he added.

Daniel Sams defended nine runs in the final over against GT

When the Titans required just nine runs to win in the final over with two power-hitters on the field Rahul Tewatia and David Miller, it seemed like the game would slip away from MI.

While speaking about his bowling strategies and his discussion with his coach, he said: “The conversation has been around what my go-to balls are – which are my slower variations. It’s just one ball but I can bowl it in different areas. It’s the same conversations with Bondy, figuring out the angles and the finer details.”

“Looking at previous footage is how I figured out that I was not bowling my best balls and through chats with Bondy, Mahela, and Jasprit,” he further added.