Thiruvananthapuram: Soon after the plane carrying the Indian team landed in Thiruvananthapuram, skipper Suryakumar Yadav, acting as a bodyguard, was spotted clearing the way for “Cheta (elder brother)” Sanju Samson. In a video that has since gone viral, Samson was clearly embarrassed but his fan following in Kerala is no joke.
In his home state, Samson is no less than a matinee idol and stepping outside the arrival gate showed what that meant as a horde of fans had lined up to welcome the team and expectedly the local hero drew the loudest cheers.
The 31-year-old was part of the India squad of the 2024 World Cup winning team but didn’t get to play a single match. This time, he is the frontrunner for the role of keeper and opening batter and the fans are desperately hoping he doesn’t fritter away the opportunity.
After a string of low scores in the preparatory series against New Zealand, they are sweating over his form and Saturday’s T20I versus New Zealand game at the Greenfield International Stadium is likely to be his first international outing at his home turf. Here, he won’t be short of inspiration and every run of his will likely be celebrated with a deafening roar.
He is one of their own but the people of Thiruvananthapuram have seen how hard Samson worked to make a career in cricket. Hailing from a small village called Vizhinjam, about 22 kms from Thiruvananthapuram, he used to change two buses to report for 6 am practice sessions at childhood coach Biju George’s SAI Center nets at the Medical College ground.
After finishing practice at 8.30 am, he used to bathe at a tap in the corner of the ground, change into school uniform, walk for one and half kms to take the bus to St Joseph’s school. He would travel back to the Medical College ground for evening practice till 6.30 pm before beginning his return journey.
“He did that every single day after joining our nets at the age of 11,” said Biju George, who has worked with various IPL sides and the India women’s team as fielding coach.
There is another video playing where the India players get to see Samson’s popularity on his homeground. In the 2019 India versus West Indies T20 game which had a full assembly of stars including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, even though Samson was not part of the playing XI, he drew the loudest cheers during the team’s warm-up.
“It will be very overwhelming for Sanju (to play at Greenfield), mainly because of him the entire stadium is sold out. This time the association officials don’t know how to cope with the demand for tickets,” said Biju. “People here love him. He is a beach boy and came from the beaches.”
With scores of 10, 6, 0 and 24 in the series so far, Samson has not been in the best mind space. But the first four games can’t be compared to Saturday’s game. It is his career’s most special match, an emotional affair for both fans and the player.
But is Samson the kind of person to feel inspired by the occasion?
“He loves turning up. He has a big passion for Kerala cricket, wants to inspire his generation of cricketers. He always tells youngsters, don’t think IPL, think India. If all these things come together, nothing better (for the local fans),” said Biju.
For batters like Sanju, their high risk game is a double edged sword. When it comes off it looks great, but failures can erode confidence. Is there a technical shortcoming that is affecting his game?
Director of cricket at Rajasthan Royals Zubin Bharucha, who has worked with Sanju for a long time and knows his game inside out, said: “Anyone who can score a hundred on a spicy pitch in South Africa, which was seaming and bouncing, with Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee bowling quick, shouldn’t have a technical problem. Abhishek was hit flush on the head by Jansen and the next best score was 30-odd…”
And that has always been the case with Samson. When he does get going, he seems to take the opposition and the pitch out of the equation. It is this quality that has won him his fans and it is those very fans, who will be hoping for an encore in the final T20I.
