Sanju Samson

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sanju Samson

• Sanju’s childhood was spent in a police residential Colony in Delhi.

• In 2006, Sanju along with his family shifted to Kerala to continue his cricketing journey after he was not selected for the Delhi U-13 team for the Dhruv Pandove Trophy. His father left his job as a Police constable in Delhi to support him in his cricketing career.

  

• Sanju captained the Kerala U-13 cricket team in the KSCA Inter-State under-13 tournament in 2007. He ended the tournament with four centuries in five matches and scored 973 runs with an average of 108.11 and bagged the Player of the Tournament award.

• Sanju’s father used to play as a centre forward in the Delhi Police’s football team.

• Sanju made his T20 debut on 16 October 2011 against Hyderabad in the 2011–12 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

• Sanju was 14 years old when he was selected by the Kerala cricket team to play in the Ranji Trophy. He was the youngest cricketer in Kerala at that time to be selected for the Ranji Trophy.

• On 3 November 2011, Sanju made his first-class cricket debut for Kerala in the 2011–12 Ranji Trophy against Vidarbha.

• Sanju was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2012 Indian Premier League but did not get any chance to play in the tournament. He was later released by the franchise in 2013.
• Sanju was selected in the India U19 squad for the 2012 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup after his noticeable performances in the 2010-11 Cooch Behar Trophy.

• Sanju made his List-A debut on 23 February 2012 in the 2011–12 Vijay Hazare Trophy against Andhra Pradesh.

• Sanju has served as the captain of Kerala U16 and U19 team.

• In June 2013, Sanju was named the vice-captain of the India U-19 team for the Top End U-19 series in Australia.

  

• When he was 19 years old, he played for IPL team Rajasthan Royals for 10 lakhs (INR), but after his good performance, he was retained by them for 4 crores (INR).

  

• Sanju wanted to become an IPS officer.

• Initially, he didn’t like fielding much.

• Sanju made his maiden first-class century in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy against Himachal Pradesh; he scored 127 runs off 207 balls.

• In the 2013-14 Under-19 Asia Cup, Sanju scored a century in 87 balls in the finals against Pakistan to win the trophy.

• Sanju’s love story with his wife started in college when they were in the same class. Sanju initiated talks with Charulatha through Facebook and after 5 years of their relationship, they got married to each other in 2018.

• Sanju was the top scorer of Kerala in the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy tournament; he scored 530 runs at an average of 58.88.

• Sanju was 20 years old when he was announced as the captain of the Kerala cricket team for the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season becoming the youngest Kerala player to captain the state in Ranji Trophy.

• Sanju started a sports academy named Six Guns Sports Academy in Thiruvananthapuram in 2018. The aim of the academy was to train young players in cricket and football.

• Sanju was appointed as the election icon ahead of the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election.

• In June 2022, Sanju Samson made his maiden T20 international half-century against Ireland; he scored  77 runs off 42 balls.

  

• Sanju’s partnership with Deepak Hooda of 176 runs against Ireland was the highest partnership for the second wicket in men’s T20I and the highest partnership for any wicket for India.

  

• Sanju Samson was appointed as the brand ambassador by the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC in February 2023.

• Sanju was part of the Indian cricket team squad which won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024 in West Indies.

  

• In 2024, after winning the ICC T20 World Cup, Sanju along with the Indian cricket team met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence.