My name was not there. I was very sad

Star batter Sanju Samson shared an emotional account from his early years in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Samson is currently part of the Indian team competing in a five-match T20I series in England.

Sanju Samson recounted his first experience at the RR trials in Jaipur, where he met Rahul Dravid. He mentioned how S Sreesanth, a former India pacer playing for RR at the time, encouraged Dravid to pay attention to Samson and spoke highly of his abilities.

“The trials were in Jaipur. Rahul Dravid came to see me for the first time. As soon as he came, the first thing itself, Sreesanth told him to look at this guy, saying he has scored a lot of runs, hit a lot of fours and sixes and this and that. He made a lot of stories for me there, and I also hit a few sixes then, as per those stories,” he said in a conversation with Aakash Chopra on Star Sports.

Samson shared that Dravid promised him a chance to play. However, after a poor performance in a practice match, he was not included in the playing XI for RR’s opening game that season. Despite feeling disappointed, Samson viewed this as a valuable learning experience. He eventually made his debut due to another player’s injury but was replaced in the subsequent game.

“Rahul Sir told me that he would make me play. He told me he would give me an opportunity. I did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali. We played a practice match before the IPL, and I did not do well in that game. In the XI for the first game, my name was not there. I was very sad. But that was a blessing, actually. I got some time in such a big league to sit out and figure out what I have to do. I would talk to Rahul Sir every day. I had a small diary, and I would make notes and practice that way. Luckily, Dishant Yagnik got injured, and I got a chance. I won that game. But then he got fit in the next game, and I was out again,” he expressed.

Sanju Samson went on to play 11 seasons with RR and served as their captain for an extended period before joining the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the 2026 season.

Sanju Samson on Sreesanth’s role in his career

Sanju Samson also highlighted the crucial role Sreesanth played in his career. He recalled being dropped from the Kerala team during a domestic competition and how Sreesanth helped him return to the squad, eventually leading to his participation in the RR trials.

“Sreesanth is a very generous guy. When I was young, I would see that every year he would take five to six guys for RR trials. I was dropped from the Kerala team at that time and was not scoring runs. Sree was playing for India and came to play a crucial knockout match for us. He called the secretary and told him that he wanted Sanju in the team. They said he is not performing, but Sree told he wanted me. We were playing Andhra, and I scored some 140 there. After the game, he told me he would take me for RR trials,” he said.

Sanju Samson played 149 matches for RR in the IPL, scoring 4027 runs at an average of 31.71 and a strike rate of 141.25, including two centuries and 23 half-centuries.

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Edited by Rishab Vm