Sanju Samson insulted Sreesanth in KCL final in a viral video. Fans are speculating about a rift

A video of the Kerala Cricket League 2026 final presentation ceremony featuring Sanju Samson and Sreesanth has created a lot of discussion on social media. In the footage, Sreesanth was seen walking up to the stage and greeting the audience with a handshake, but it looked like he was skipping Samson. When the former Indian fastballer arrived, the Kerala batsman was already standing on the dais next to the trophy and other officials.

Samson and Sreesanth have not shaken hands at the moment, prompting fans to speculate whether there could be a problem between the two most prominent figures in Kerala cricket.

The clip quickly went viral online, with users offering their own theories about the apparent insult. However, neither Samson nor Sreesanth have spoken publicly about the incident or commented on the speculation surrounding the video.

SREESANTH-SAMSON RIFT?

Some fans linked the apparent tension between Sanju Samson and Sreesanth to the former India pacer’s recent comments in a video interview. Sreesanth claimed that Samson did not fully acknowledge his contribution in helping the wicketkeeper-batsman secure his first IPL contract with Rajasthan Royals in 2013.

The former fast bowler said he strongly recommended Samson to then Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid. Sreesanth also claimed that he helped arrange air tickets for Kerala players who traveled to Jaipur to attend the franchise’s IPL trials.

“I introduced him to Rahul bhai (Dravid) and said this boy hit me for six sixes in six balls in a local tournament. I literally arranged tickets for everyone (all Kerala cricketers) to fly to Rajasthan to meet Dravid,” Sreesanth told Lallantopu.

“But recently during the awards, Sanju said that Rahul bhai directly called him and said ‘come and join the team’. Nothing like that happened. Sanju, you said one version to the Hindi audience and you said something else in Malayalam. Social media is everything these days.”

However, Samson had earlier acknowledged Sreesanth’s contribution in helping him secure a contract with Rajasthan Royals.

“Sree bhai is a very generous guy. When I was young, he used to take 5-6 players for RR trials. I was dropped from the Kerala team and Sree bhai was in the Indian team. That’s when he came for a crucial Ranji Trophy match. He called Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew and got me in the Aakash Kerala team.

“I scored 140 in that match and then Sree bhai took me to the RR trials in Jaipur. When Rahul Sir met, Sree bhai told him ‘that guy hit me for a lot of runs in the local tournament, he hit a lot of sixes’. He cursed me a lot, I was already nervous and after that I felt more pressure.”

Samson is back in India’s T20I side for the series against Afghanistan starting on September 13.

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Published on:

08 Sep 2026 0:25 IST