India’s Sanju Samson (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Moments after Sanju Samson played the decisive knock of his life, a majestic 50-ball 97* against West Indies in the virtual quarter-final of the T20 World Cup at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, he made a disarming admission. “He had a lot of ups and downs,” Sanju said in the post-match press conference. “I still doubted myself if I would ever make it?”
India fans have been waiting for more than four hours to see their heroes outside the Wankhede
It was a far cry from the chest-pounding, “I always belonged here” monologues that often follow such knocks. Instead, Sanju talked about lingering self-doubt.He played in 60 T20Is and played in another 100 games. Such a stop-start career can affect a player’s morale. Others might have let bitterness seep in, but Sanju’s sincerity stood out as much as his game of moves.On a side note, he said he studied how greats build their innings and how they adjust the chase to their liking. “I have been playing this format for many years. I have learned from greats like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni. I have noticed how they change their game according to the situation.”Long before the Eden Gardens spotlight found him, Sanju was a boy growing up in a police colony in North Delhi’s GTB Nagar. His father, Samson Viswanathan – a former footballer who represented Delhi in the Santosh Trophy – served as a police officer in Delhi.In one junior tournament in Delhi, Sanju scored over 500 runs from eight games and did not make the U-13 side. “He came to me crying that day,” his father recalled.One steamy afternoon, as Samson watched his son train, a passerby sneered, “Are you planning to get your son into the Sri Lankan team?”“People say a lot of things. As a parent, my job is to give the best for my son,” Samson tells TOI.Samson realized that breaking into the Ranji Trophy team in Delhi would be an uphill climb. He took voluntary retirement and returned to Thiruvananthapuram. Away from the noise and giggling, Sanju rebuilt his game.Kerala pacer MD Nidheesh can’t stop gushing through Sanju’s innings. “He looked incredibly calm against the West Indies. It reminded me of the three centuries he scored against South Africa in 2024.”Sanju spoke of engaging in a “mental reset” ahead of the West Indies match.“I turned off my phone, turned off social media and just listened to myself,” said Parthiv Patel in an interview with a local television station. The boy who was once rejected from the Delhi junior team led India to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
