The veteran Rahul Dravid was the one to first see the talent of Sanju Samson. He gave the opportunity to Samson to play for his franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2013. The wicketkeeper recounts the memorable moment when Rahul asked him to play for RR.
Before playing for India, Samson first appeared in the Indian Premier League. In 2012, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but didn’t get the chance to play. He shifted his base to RR in 2013 under the captaincy of Dravid.
Dravid had tested Samson’s ability in the practice session where the youngster impressed the veteran and was called to play for the Royals. Samson said that it was a dream come true when Dravid said to play him for the Royals.
“Rahul bhai and Zubin Bharucha (RR Head of Cricket) were taking trials for Rajasthan Royals,” said Samson in a conversation with RR spin consultant and New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi for the franchise’s podcast.
“I played a really good knock there, at the end of the second day, Rahul bhai came to me and asked ‘Would you play for my team?’ It was like a dream for me, to have Rahul bhai come and ask me to play for him.
Sanju Samson played for RR from 2013 to 2015. In 2016, Delhi Daredevils (DD) bagged his service and he played for them till 2017. He was recalled to RR in 2018 and has been retained for the impending season.
Sanju Samson has played only four T20Is
Samson has fall short of opportunities to showcase his talent at the international platform. He made the debut in the Indian team in 2015 but was dropped from the team after playing just one T20I. Last year, he was recalled in the national side but was not included in the playing XI. Finally, in 2020, he got the chances in three T20Is but failed to score more runs. In 4 T20Is, he has scored 35 runs at an average of 8.75.