Sanju Samson is enjoying supreme form, having scored back-to-back tons in T20Is, making him the first Indian to achieve the feat. His effort has been lauded from every corner and in the midst of this a video of his father is also doing the rounds on social media. However, the video is not in a good taste as his father can be heard blaming some of the past and current stars for almost destroying his son’s career.
Sanju Samson‘s father names MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli, all who have led India in the T20I format at some point of their career, for wasting ten vital years of his career. His father also names former India coach Rahul Dravid, who was the coach of the T20 World Cup winning side, in the video.
Sanju Samson is in South Africa, playing in the ongoing four-match T20I series. In the series opener, he scored a century but followed it up with a duck in the second and third game.
Sanju Samson’s decade long wait to make it to the Indian National Team
Sanju Samson made his T20I debut back in 2015 when he was just 21 but failed to hold onto the spot in the team. He, however, re-entered the fold in 2021 and played 14 T20Is between 2022-23.
However, his authoritative performances by bat, which saw him smash sensational tons, has raised his stakes as India’s opener in T20 format. Sanju Samson, however, will face stiff competition once the likes of Shubman Gill and Yashaswi Jaiswal are re-introduced in the white-ball setup. The duo is currently engaged in the red-ball format and are touring Australia for the much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Apart from the duo, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul are also waiting on the sideline and will look to present a case for themselves in the upcoming edition of IPL. However, Sanju Samson has now failed to open his account on two occasions as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck by Marco Jansen in the third T20I against South Africa in Centurion on Wednesday.
The wicketkeeper-batter was cleaned up with a length delivery, which he tried to play on the backfoot but failed to judge it. The ball knocked the top of the off stump.
Sanju Samson met with a similar fate in the previous encounter against the same bowler when he was bowled for a three-ball duck, also making him the first batter to hit two consecutive tons and get dismissed on consecutive ducks in the following T20I innings an unwanted record after he created a record for becoming the first batter to score 2 back to back T20I hundreds.
In a recent interview with a Kerala-based news outlet, Media One, Vishwanath Samson expressed frustration over what he believes has been a decade of lost opportunities for his son, Sanju Samson.
Sanju Samson’s father accuses MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid of ‘wasting 10 years of son’s career’
A clip of Sanju Samson’s father Vishwanath has gone viral on social media, in which he asserted that former India captains MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and ex-India coach Rahul David wasted 10 years of his son’s career. He believes that Samson didn’t get the number of opportunities that he deserved.
Vishwanath emphasized that his son didn’t give up despite the unfair treatment and overcame all the obstacles. Speaking to the Malayalam-language television channel MediaOne, Samson’s father said:
“There are 3-4 people who wasted 10 years of my son’s vital career…captains like Dhoni ji, Virat [Kohli] ji, Rohit [Sharma] ji and coach [Rahul] Dravid ji. These four people wasted 10 years of my son’s life but the more they hurt him, the stronger Sanju came out of the crisis.”
Vishwanath also launched a scathing attack at former India batter Kris Srikkanth, stating that the cricketer-turned-expert never praised Samson’s performances. He was quoted as saying by Sports Tak:
“What hurt me really bad was comments from [Kris Srikkanth], the player from Tamil Nadu. I don’t know what he has played. To this day, that individual has not spoken a good word of encouragement about my son, but has hurt him a lot with his words.”
“He said – ‘against whom did Sanju score a century? It was only Bangladesh,’. People have been saying he [Srikkanth] was a great player but I haven’t seen it. Century is a century, and that guy has scored only 26 runs against Bangladesh. Sanju has scored a hundred and he is a player with a classical touch like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. At least respect that!” he added.
Sanju Samson made his T20I debut in 2015. However, he failed to establish himself as a mainstay in the Indian team for several years. The 30-year-old finally found his footing after being promoted to the opening spot.
The right-hander has looked in impressive form lately, notching up back-to-back centuries against Bangladesh and South Africa in T20Is. With his knocks of 111 and 107, he became the first Indian batter to hit consecutive T20I tons.
Sanju Samson’s father thanked current coach Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav
In the aforementioned interview, Sanju Samson’s father also thanked India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir for giving a new lease of life to his son. He reckoned that his son would have been dropped from the national team again if Suryakumar and Gambhir weren’t part of the team management.
Vishwanath was quoted as saying by ABP News:
“I want to thank Gautam Gambhir bhai and Suryakumar bhai. If these two people did not come at this time, they would have dropped him from the team like in the past.”
Sanju Samson, known for his calm demeanor and humility, typically avoids controversy. However, his father’s outspoken comments have quickly gone viral on social media, sparking debate among fans and pundits alike. Despite the criticism, Sanju Samson has continued to perform at the highest level, demonstrating his talent and determination on the international stage.
Sanju Samson will be seen in action in the upcoming fourth T20I of the four-match series between India and South Africa. The match will be played in Johannesburg on Friday, November 15.