A man with golden heart, Sanju Samson kept the promise he made to a specially-abled kid on his return to Kerala. Samson had guaranteed to fulfil the boy’s dream of meeting the India cricketer, and he came good on it when the batter not only met him but also played a game of cricket. The video of Samson batting as the young fan bowled to him was uploaded on social media, earning Sanju compliments and wishes from all parts of the country.

Samson has joined the Rajasthan Royals camp ahead of the IPL 2023, where they start their season against Lucknow Super Giants on March 24. Samson hasn’t played competitive cricket since last month, when he turned up for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy. He scored one half-century from five innings before Kerala was knocked out. Prior to it, Samson scored a duck in the only T20I he played against Afghanistan. In December though, he had scored his maiden international century – 108 in the 3rd ODI against South Africa which India won by 78 runs.

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Samson was one of the 11 players to be part of Grade C of the BCCI’s central contracts list – to be paid ₹1 crore annually. Samson has long been a part of Team India’s plans, yet his inconsistency posed a significant hurdle. Consequently, he was omitted from India’s World Cup squads, both at the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup. As the journey towards the T20 World Cup is set to commence soon, with the squad expected to be announced by May 1, Samson’s performance at IPL 2024 gains heightened importance.

Samson and the RR camaraderie

Come the IPL, Samson gets the opportunity to team up with some of the most formidable teammates, which the batter believes is one of the team’s strengths. RR reached the IPL 2022 Playoffs after finishing 2nd on the points table but failed to do so last season, but this year Samson is confident on a better show given the camaraderie he and the rest of the teammates have with each other.

“There’s a different equation with everyone in the team. With Jos [Buttler], there is like an elder brother kind of a relationship, same is the case with Ash [Ashwin] bhai. With Hetty, [Shimron Hetmyer], he’s like a friend. I am very fortunate to have some very good connect in our own team. Once you are on the ground, everyone is equal. When you treat them the way they should be treated, everything becomes very normal,” Samson said in the show ‘IPL Heroes’ on Star Sports.