Delhi Daredevils' hopes of reaching the play-offs have become slender after five losses from seven matches but their batsman Sanju Samson today said that his side need to keep going and play with a positive mindset in the remainder of the IPL.
"In a sport like cricket, failure is more than success. As a sportsperson, we all know how to come back from failure. We need to keep going. Life also has a lot of failures and we have doubts. But we need to have the faith and belief. We need to go with a positive mindset," said Samson after Delhi lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets here.
"It's difficult but that's the beauty of the game. We would love love to challenge ourselves and move positively," he added.
Delhi are currently at the bottom of the league table with just four points -- from two wins -- from seven matches. The loss against Kolkata today was their fourth successive defeat this season.
Delhi's batting line-up is loaded with Indian youngsters who are yet to get going but Samson said they have enough experience to start winning.
"We are youngsters but have been playing in IPL for four to five years. We have enough experience to make the team win. We need pressure to perform in tough situations. Yes, there's pressure but we can use it in a positive way and use the pressure to perform," said the 22-year-old batsman.
Samson top-scored for Delhi with a 38-ball 60 and gave them a flying start, racing to 25 in nine balls, before KKR restricted the run-flow for a modest 160/6.
"I'm still learning. I'm 22 years old, there's a lot more career ahead. I need to finish games and need to play 20 overs. Whenever you play 20 overs, the team has best chance to win the match. Hope I will learn someday soon," he said.
The Delhi top-order has four Indian youngsters in Samson, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, all of them under 25.
"Each and every youngster is lucky to be part of this team. It's a great opportunity to be playing in IPL. Being with Rahul sir, the youngsters like us learn a lot. He always backs us. That's a great thing to have. We just want to perform and win matches for him," Samson said about team mentor Rahul Dravid," said Samson.
"We can't get a better management than this. Despite getting such an opportunity we are not able to win. It's a strange feeling that we are not able to make it count. But we cannot move forward with such a mindset. It's about learning in every match."
Samson was among the three Delhi fielders who could have attempted a catch of a Robin Uthappa skier when the batsman was on nine but none did and the ball fell flat on the ground, and he blamed the noisy crowd for the communication gap.
"We know catches win matches. It's a busy crowd out here. It's not easy to communicate while the ball goes up. It happens in match but we need to move on as we have a match day after."
KKR debutant Sheldon Jackson said being in the IPL was a big motivation.
"Many don't even get a chance. Being in a side who are one of the most consistent teams and wearing this jersey is a motivation," he said.
KKR may have opened up a two-point lead at the top of the table and Jackson said they would like to win as many matches as possible.
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