Sanju Samson is an Indian international cricketer. He represents Kerala as captain in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sanju Viswanath Samson was born on 11 November 1994 (age 29 years; as of 2023) in Pulluvila, Vizhinjam, Trivandrum. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. Since childhood, Samson was passionate about cricket. Sanju spent his early childhood in the Police residential colony in the North Delhi neighbourhood of GTB Nagar. He attended Rosary Senior Secondary School, Delhi. Coach Yashpal trained Samson at his DAV School academy in West Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh. Sanju studied in Delhi till Class 7. At 11, Sanju appeared for trials for the Delhi U-13 team for Dhruv Pandove TrophyF. Although his father, Viswanath, was confident that Sanju would make it, they were disappointed when Sanju’s name was missing from the roster on the notice board outside Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. The father and son were shocked to see the boys who seemingly fared poorly had managed to get in. Upset by the unfair treatment, Viswanath consoled his son over a pizza while returning home and decided to return to their ancestral house in coastal Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram. He started training under Ranji coach Biju Varghese (Biju George) at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College ground.
Sanju Samson with his coach Biju George
In Thiruvananthapuram, he attended St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School. Thereafter, he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram. In Kerala, he gained recognition in junior cricket. Former Indian batsman Sujith Somasundar noticed Samson’s talent soon after he took over as the Kerala coach.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father, Samson Viswanath, is a former Delhi Police constable. A keen sportsperson, Viswanath played for Delhi in the 1994 football championship Santosh Trophy. Viswanath took voluntary retirement from Delhi Police in 2009 and moved to Kerala with his family. In Kerala, he became a football coach. His mother, Liji Samson, is a housewife. His elder brother, Saly Samson, is also a cricketer, who has played for Kerala’s Under-25 cricket team. He also represented Kerala in Junior cricket.
Sanju Samson with his father
Sanju Samson with his mother
Sanju Samson with his brother, Saly Samson
Wife & Children
On 22 December 2018, he got married to his longtime girlfriend Charu Latha. They first made an acquaintance while attending Mar Ivanios College and started dating in August 2013.
Sanju Samson with his wife
Ethnicity
He belongs to a Latin-Catholic Malayali family hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Diocese of Alappuzha. [1]The New Indian Express
Career
Youth career
In 2007, he started his career as a cricketer when he was selected in the under-13 Kerala cricket team. He captained Kerala in the 2007-08 KSCA Inter-State under-13 tournament and bagged the Player of the Tournament award scoring 973 runs, including four centuries in five matches at an average of 108.11. As a member of the Kerala U-15 team for the 2008-09 Vijay Merchant Trophy, he scored a double century off 138 balls against Goa. He was also the captain of Kerala at the U-16 and U-19 levels. His remarkable performance in the 2010-11 Cooch Behar Trophy secured him a spot in the India U-19 team.
An old picture of Sanju Samson
In 2011, he represented India in Under-19 Asia Cup. However, his poor performance in Malaysia, scoring 14 runs in three games, saw him lose his place in the Under-19 World Cup squad for Australia. In June 2013, he was named vice-captain of the India U-19 team for the 2013 Top End Under-19 Series in Australia. In India U-19’s Youth Test series against Sri Lanka, which was held from July to August 2013, he scored two half-centuries. In the 2013 ACC Under 19 Asia Cup in UAE, he helped India in retaining the cup by scoring a century in the final against Pakistan; he was also India’s vice-captain in the tournament. He was the vice-captain of the Indian U-19 team for the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in which he was the top run-scorer with a highest score of 85 runs from 45 balls against Papua New Guinea.
Domestic
In 2009, aged 14, Samson became the youngest Kerala cricketer to be selected in the Ranji Trophy. [2]The New Indian Express In the same year, he was named in the Kerala squad for the 2009-10 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. On 16 October 2011, Sanju Samson made his domestic T20 debut with Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Chennai in which he represented Kerala in a match against Hyderabad; Kerala won by 3 wickets. On 3 November 2011, he made his first-class debut in Nagpur with Ranji Trophy Plate League in which he represented Kerala in a match against Vidarbha; the match was a draw.
Sanju Samson posing in Kerala cricket team’s jersey
On 23 February 2012, he made his List A debut in Bangalore with Vijay Hazare Trophy in which he represented Kerala in a match against Andhra; Kerala won by 3 wickets. In his first match during the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy, which was against Assam, he scored a career-best of 211 runs to bring up his first double century in the championship. He became Kerala’s highest run-getter scoring 530 runs at an average of 58.88 in the championship. At 20, Sanju was named the captain of Kerala for the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy season, becoming the youngest Kerala player to captain the state in Ranji Trophy. [3]Eurosport In 2017, Sanju’s efforts led Kerala to play its first quarter-final in Ranji Trophy history; he was one of the top performers in the season.
Sanju Samson playing a shot against Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy (2017)
In November 2017, he became the captain of the Board President’s XI after replacing Naman Ojha due to his injury for a two-day tour match against Sri Lanka. In 2019, he became Man of the Match when he scored 91 runs off 48 balls in the fifth unofficial List-A match between India A and South Africa A team. In the same year, Sanju Samson hit 212 runs off 129 balls against Goa in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group A game at Alur in Bengaluru, the highest List-A score in Indian domestic cricket. [4]The Times of India In the match, Sanju and Sachin Baby amassed 338 runs for the third wicket, which is the highest partnership for any wicket in List-A, including ODIs, for Indian cricket. The duo surpassed Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid‘s 331 runs for India for the second wicket against New Zealand Hyderabad in 1999.
Indian Premier League
In 2009 and 2012, he was named to the Kolkata Knight Riders squad, but he did not get to play and was released ahead of the 2013 season. In 2013, Rajasthan Royals bought Samson at the IPL auction when he was 18. He scored 339 runs in the IPL. On 14 April 2013, he made his IPL debut for Rajasthan against Kings XI Punjab when wicket-keeper Dishant Yagnik failed to recover from an injury. He bagged the best young cricketer award in the IPL 2013 season with 206 runs and six stumpings from 10 innings. He came into the limelight when while chasing 172 against Royal Challengers Bangalore Sanju scored 63 runs off 41 balls for Rajasthan Royals. He is the youngest batsman to score 1,000 runs in the IPL. [5]Sanju Samson – Facebook In 2016, Delhi Daredevils signed Sanju after Rajasthan Royals was banned for two years after being found guilty of illegal betting and match-fixing probe.
Sanju Samson playing for Delhi Daredevils
He returned to Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL auction. In 2021, Sanju became the captain of the Rajasthan Royals; Rajasthan Royals went on to play the finals and finished as the runners-up under his leadership. Rajasthan went on to play the finals and finished as the runners-up under his leadership in the 2022 Indian Premier League.
Sanju Samson as the Captain of Rajasthan Royals during the 2022 Indian Premier League
In April 2024, he surpassed Jos Buttler to score the most fifty-plus scores for Rajasthan Royals.
International
In August 2014, Sanju was named to India’s 17-man squad to play in 5 ODIs and a Twenty20 against England, but he he did not make it to the final eleven in any of the matches. On 19 July 2015, he made his T20I debut in a match against Zimbabwe in Harare during the 2015 India tour of Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe won by 10 runs. After four years, he was recalled to the Indian side for a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, but he was benched in the whole series.
Sanju Samson in action for India
On 23 July 2021, he made his ODI debut in a match against Sri Lanka in Colombo during the 2021 India tour of Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets. In June 2022, he was named in India’s squad for their T20I series against Ireland. He scored his maiden half century in T20I during the second match of the series, with 77 runs off 42 balls. In the match, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson registered became the 9th highest in all men’s T20Is, the highest second wicket partnership in all men’s T20Is and the highest partnership for India for any wicket in men’s T20Is. [6]The Indian Express
Others
Sanju was appointed as the manager of Bharat Petroleum, Thiruvananthapuram. In 2018, he established a sports academy called Six Guns Sports Academy for cricket and football training in Thiruvananthapuram.
Favourites
- Cricketer(s): Shane Watson, A. B. de Villiers
- Food: Tapioca and fish curry
- Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Facts/Trivia
- Sanju Samson is a right-handed batter, and his fielding position is wicketkeeper.
- He is Mercely’s Health Ambassador
- In 2016, Samson was issued a show-cause notice by KCA due to alleged acts of indiscipline during the Ranji Trophy. The KCA appointed a four-member committee to look into the allegations. He was dropped for Kerala’s match against Tripura in Cuttack for disciplinary reasons. KCA secretary TN Ananthanarayanan revealed that Samson had misbehaved on several instances like leaving the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai without informing the team management while the game against Goa was in progress. In another instance, Samson broke his bat in the dressing room after he was out for 0 in the second innings.
- He was one of eight players that were fined by the Kerala Cricket Association in August 2018 after showing dissent against Kerala’s captain, Sachin Baby.
- He has endorsed various brands like BharatPe, Myfab11, Baseline Ventures, Club Mahindra, Haeal, and Gillette.
- His jersey number for India is #14.
- In 2023, Rohit Sharma’s dismissal stirred controversy on social media as many argued that it was Sanju Samson’s gloves that dislodged the bails rather than the ball hitting the stumps. However, the IPL’s Twitter account put an end to the debate by posting a video clip showing the catch from multiple angles, proving that the ball did indeed hit the bails and that it was a legal dismissal.
References
