Sanju Samson’s relationship with the city of New Delhi is both fascinating and weird.
Fascinating because the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman lived “the first 10 years” of his life there — learning to pick up a bat, and more, in the process. Weird because he was snubbed by the powers-that-be even though he turned enough heads with his unique brand of batting on the junior circuit.
As fate would have it, his father Viswanath, then a constable with Delhi Police, ordered his wife and two sons (Sanju has an older brother, Saly), to pack their bags and shift base to their native place, Vizhinjam, a port town near Thiruvananthapuram.
Nearly a decade later, Samson is set to make the Capital his ‘home’ all over again during the summer. Picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for Rs 4.2 crore at the recent IPL auction, Samson now believes in the fact that history repeats itself. And how!
“My father was a footballer. He is 50 now, and I can tell you with pride that I haven’t seen anybody play as well as him. But he never wanted my brother and me to play football. He told us to take up cricket. And it turned out to be a good decision,” said Samson, who is in Mumbai to represent his employers, Bharat Petroleum, in the DY Patil T20 Cup.
“I attended Rosary Senior Secondary School in GTB Nagar. I was in Std VI when we decided to go back to Kerala. I have great memories of Ferozeshah Kotla because that’s the first ground I ever went to in Delhi. My dad was posted there. I didn’t obviously understand the seriousness of my father’s decision to take us back to Kerala. But now I know,” he says. “I have not been to many places in Delhi. But I can tell you I have great memories of the Kotla. I want to score more runs this time,” he adds.
Samson, whose exploits in Rajasthan Royals colours propelled him into the national consciousness, wants this IPL season to be a defining one. “The expectations are the same,” he says. Not willing to talk about matters of selection because “it is not in my control”, Samson wants his cricket to do the talking.
Blessed with sound head on strong shoulders, he wants to make the big leap soon. “I was given the opportunity to play for India ‘A’. I did well. The next step, logically, is to play for India,” he reasons before saying confidently, “I know my time will come.” It sure will.
