Sanju Samson


Sanju Viswanath Samson is an Indian cricketer who represents Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League and the Indian national cricket team. A wicket-keeper/right-handed batsman, he made his Twenty20 International debut for India against Zimbabwe on 19 July 2015. He is the youngest batsman to score 1,000 runs in the IPL and the youngest cricketer to captain a Ranji trophy side.
He represents the Kerala cricket team in domestic cricket. He is the youngest player to score a half-century in the IPL and Champions League Twenty20, achieved on 29 April 2013 in the match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the age of 18. Sanju was adjudged as the "Best Young Player of the Season" in the 2013 IPL through an official poll. He was appointed the Vice-captain of the India U-19 team for the 2013 Top End Under-19 Series in Australia. He was included in the Indian squad for the limited-overs matches in the 2014 tour of England. Sanju became the first wicket-keeper batsman to score a double hundred in Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored an unbeaten 212 for Kerala against Goa. This is also the highest score in Vijay Hazare Trophy and fastest double hundred in List A cricket

Early life

Sanju was born on 11 November 1994 in Trivandrum, India to Lily and Samson. His father, Samson, was formerly a police constable in Delhi Police. Sanju studied Rosary Senior Secondary School, Delhi and graduated high school from St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He pursued a bachelor of arts degree from Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum. He is devout of the Latin Rite.

Personal life

Sanju Samson married his college-mate and longtime girlfriend Charulatha Remesh in Thiruvananthapuram on 22 December 2018.

Junior cricket

Sanju was a member of the under 13 cricket team of Kerala. He captained the side and scored a century in his debut match and went on to score four centuries in five matches in the South Zone Under-13 tournament. He was also the captain of Under 16 and Under 19 Kerala State Cricket Teams. As a member of Kerala Under 16 Team, he scored a 200 not out off just 138 balls in a Vijay Merchant Trophy South Zone match against Goa. He was the All-India leading run-scorer in the season and was selected to play in the Ranji Trophy for Kerala when he was 15 years of age.
His techniques combined with an ability to time the ball earned him a place in Kerala's U-19 team. Consistent outings in the Cooch Behar Trophy elevated him into India's team for the U-19 Asia Cup in 2012
Sanju represented India in the Under 19 Asia Cup Tournament held in Malaysia in June 2012. In the 2013 Under 19 Asia cup in UAE, he scored a century in the final, which helped India retain the cup.
In 2014, BCCI appointed Sanju Samson as vice-captain of team India for the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In that tournament, Sanju was in great form. In 3rd Match, Group A, ICC Under-19 World Cup at Sharjah, 19 February 2014, Sanju smash 85 runs from 45 balls against Papua New Guinea

Domestic career

He made his debut for the Kerala Ranji Trophy team on 3 November 2011. He was the vice-captain of under 19 Indian team.
He was appointed as the captain for the Kerala Ranji Trophy team for the 2015-16 season, thus becoming the youngest captain of a Ranji Trophy side. He was the leading run-scorer for Kerala in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 627 runs in seven matches.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson was appointed as the captain of the Board President’s XI side in place of injured Naman Ojha for the two-day tour match against Sri Lanka which was held on 11 November in Kolkata. Skipper Sanju Samson scored a century against the visiting team of Sri Lanka, and their two-day tour match ended in a draw. The Sri Lankan team had declared 411/9 on board, following that, the Board President’s XI was struggling at 31/2 after lunch on the second day. Samson steadily built his innings and helped his side score 287/5. Later, both captains agreed on a stalemate after 75 overs. Samson hit 19 fours and one six from 143 balls. The newly-appointed skipper from Kerala showed a great character as he succinctly took on the Sri Lankan Test attack.
In August 2018, he was one of eight players that were fined by the Kerala Cricket Association, after showing dissent against Kerala's captain, Sachin Baby. In November 2018, he was named as one of eight players to watch ahead of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy.
On 12 October 2019, in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy match between Kerala and Goa, Kerala's Samson scored the fastest double century in List A cricket. It was the highest individual total in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with an unbeaten 212 runs from 129 balls. It was also the highest total made by a wicket-keeper in a List A cricket match.

IPL career

In the IPL, he was a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders players pool in 2012 but did not play. In 2013, he signed for Rajasthan Royals. and made his IPL debut for Rajasthan on 13 April 2013 after the regular wicket-keeper Dishant Yagnik failed to recover from an injury. He impressed with a catch to remove Rajagopal Sathish off the bowling of James Faulkner. He also affected a run-out of Praveen Kumar from behind the stumps and another catch.The Rajasthan Royals were chasing a target of 126 runs to win. He joined Ajinkya Rahane in the middle when his team was facing some anxious moments with the score at 79/4 in 12.5 overs. Though he faced a strong LBW appeal on the very first ball he faced, he opened his account with a beautifully timed backfoot punch off Azhar Mehmood. He scored a composed 27 runs off 23 deliveries and his unbroken partnership with Rahane for 47 runs made sure Rajasthan Royals won the match with 4 balls to spare. The Hindu was effusive in its praise about his performance, saying, "The Kerala cricketer’s calm performance won him many admirers and he may prove to be one of the answers to Royals’ problems in the middle-order." Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted on seeing Sanju bat: "must confess I like the look of Sanju Samson. The first time I saw him play the good crop coming from Kerala."
Sanju played his second match for Rajasthan Royals against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on 29 April 2013. Rajasthan Royals were chasing a tough target of 172 when Sanju has promoted up the batting order to No.3. He scored 63 off 41 balls and his partnership with Shane Watson of 68 runs off 46 balls laid the foundation for the Rajasthan Royals' victory. He won the Man-of-the-match award for his performance which invited praise from all quarters for the quality of the strokes and the composure of the innings. After an uncertain start, he hit two consecutive sixes off Murali Karthik and the commentators termed him "a talented individual with great prospects". With that half-century, he became the youngest player to score a half-century in an IPL match. He achieved this feat at an age of 18 years and 169 days breaking the previous record set in 2008 by Shreevats Goswami of Royal Challengers Bangalore who achieved the feat at the age of 19 years 1 day.
On 5 May 2013, won the 'Nayi Soch' award in his 4th IPL match for Rajasthan Royals against Pune Warriors. He came in at a tense situation and made a useful contribution to the 25 run partnership with Stuart Binny in 2.1 overs propelling Royals to yet another win.
In the 2nd Qualifier match of IPL 2013, Sanju failed to click as he scored a duck from 4 deliveries getting out of the bowling of Lasith Malinga. Rajasthan Royals were placed No. 3 in the IPL 2013 and qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 competition to be held in India in 2013.
Sanju won the best young player award in IPL 2013 through a poll conducted on the official IPL website.
Before the IPL 2014 season, the Rajasthan Royals retained Sanju. He was one of the most consistent performers of the team where he emerged as one of the top run-getters for the team. But his performance wasn't enough as Rajasthan Royals lost its final league match against Mumbai Indians in a thrilling match. Sanju Samson himself was the top scorer for Rajasthan in that match with a score of 74.
For the 2015 IPL season, Rajasthan Royals performed well in the league making it to the knockout matches. But Sanju Samson couldn't bring justice to his cause as he recorded only one 50 plus scores in the 15 matches he played. The score came against Mumbai Indians in a losing cause where he scored 76 runs off 46 balls and almost won them the game.
In 2016, the IPL Franchise Delhi Daredevils have signed him for a fee of 4.2 crores, in the IPL auction.
Sanju scored his maiden T20 century in IPL 2017 against Rising Pune Supergiant on 11 Apr 2017 at Maharastra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
In January 2018, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 8 Crores in the 2018 IPL auction.
On 15 April 2018, Sanju scored 92 runs in 45 balls playing for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home ground of opposition, and was declared "Man of the Match".
On 29 March 2019, Sanju Samson scored his second IPL century against Sunrisers Hyderabad hitting 102 not out off just 55 balls which included 10 fours and 4 sixes. This was also the first century of IPL 2019 tournament. In that match 18th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a special one for Sanju Samson as he hit 24 runs in that over which includes 5 boundaries. In the next match on 31 March 2019, against Chennai Super Kings after scoring 2 more runs, he became the youngest batsman to score 2000 runs in the history of IPL.

Champions League career

Sanju's good form continued in the 2013 Champions League Twenty20. He scored 192 runs in 6 matches including 3 half-centuries with an average of 39 runs at a strike rate of 127. He had a great tournament hitting 22 fours and 5 sixes along with 5 catches and a stumping.
Sanju made his CLT20 debut against the Mumbai Indians on 21 September 2013. He took the catches of Mumbai's Big 3 - Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, and Kieron Pollard. He came in at No. 3 and scored 54 off 47 balls with 8 fours. He became the youngest player to score a half-century in the CLT20. The Royals went on to win the match.
In the second match against the Highveld Lions, he was dismissed for 12. In the next match against the Perth Scorchers, he showed his class by scoring another half-century off 42 balls with 6 fours and a six. He remained not out. But in the next match against the Otago Volts, Sanju got out for just 5 runs.
In the semifinal against Chennai Super Kings, Sanju only made 11 from 10 balls. However, he was instrumental in the run out of Murali Vijay which paved the way for the team's win.
In the final against the Mumbai Indians, Sanju made a blistering 60 off just 33 balls with 4 fours and 4 massive sixes at a strike rate of 182. This inning was the highest score in his CLT20 Career. However, the team lost its way after his dismissal and went on to lose the match.
Sanju, who scored 192 runs in 6 matches, was the 6th highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Ranji Trophy 2013-14

Sanju had a grand start to the Ranji Trophy 2013-14. In the first match at Guwahati, Assam put 323 on the board. Sanju scored a career-best 211 to give Kerala a vital 39-run lead. He hit 23 fours and 5 sixes to bring up his first double century in Ranji Trophy. Sanju continued his terrific form in the second match against Andhra Pradesh at Thalassery where he scored 115 from 281 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes to help Kerala post a mammoth total of 486 in the 1st innings. In the second innings, he scored another 51 not out off 73 balls: 10 fours and a six.
He was the highest scorer of Ranji Trophy 2013-14 after the second round of matches with 377 runs off 2 matches at an average of 188.5.
In all, he played six matches and ended up as Kerala's highest run-getter, scoring 530 runs at an average of 58.88.

Quadrangular A-Team One-Day Series (Australia), 2014

Sanju finished as India A's highest run-scorer with 244 runs from seven innings with two fifties with an average of 81.33. He was dismissed just thrice. Sanju had dropped down to No. 6 and also kept wicket in all games. He was also applauded by Indian coach Abhay Sharma for his temperament and batting technique, calling him 'the future for India'

International career

On 5 August 2014, Sanju was selected to the 17-man squad to play against England in 5 ODIs and a Twenty20. However, he did not make it to the final team on any of the matches and remained a backup keeper to MS Dhoni.
Samson was frequently called to the national team but never made it to the playing XI, until he made his international debut against Zimbabwe at Harare, in 2015.
In October 2019, he was named in India's Twenty20 International squad for their series against Bangladesh.
In November 2019 he was again called to the T20I series against West Indies vs India, after an injury to Shikhar Dhawan.
He got a warm welcome in his home town, Thiruvananthapuram where the second match was planned.
He played 3rd ODI against SriLanka.He smashed a massive six in first ball but got out at 2nd ODI by LBW
He was selected for the T20I series of the India tour of New Zealand and was part of the playing eleven as an opener. Though he couldn't create the desired impact with the bat, his acrobatic catch in the deep made people take note of his fielding prowess.