At the Medical College Ground, where monsoon rains routinely swallow the outfield, a young Sanju Samson once did something that refused to leave his coach’s memory. The surface was soaked, a mat laid over what felt like “walking on cake.” Balance was a challenge. Batting was near impossible. Yet, at barely 11, Samson struck a cricket ball as clean as it could ever be, with sixes landing far beyond the boundary ropes, making batting look like the easiest thing ever discovered on the face of the planet. For Samson’s childhood coach, Biju George, it was a moment marked by greatness beyond the runs, the scoreboard, or the technique. Just the unmistakable certainty that this kid is different.
Why Sanju Samson Was Different As A KID?
“I remember one thing about him. Kerala has a lot of monsoon. And we used to train at a place called the Medical College Ground in Thiruvananthapuram. It was raining. And the ground was like underwater the whole week. And next Monday, they had the inter-school matches on. Sanju was playing for his school. They somehow tagged a mat onto that surface. And it’s very difficult to walk on that surface. It’s like walking on cake. Very slippery and slidy. And Sanju was batting like he was batting on a concrete wicket. And he was hitting long sixes. So that showed that this kid is different. And he might be 11 or 12 at that time,” George told Sports Now in an exclusive interview.
Having watched Samson from close quarters, George has witnessed his struggle firsthand, and his formative years were not limited to talent alone, but also to relentless sacrifices. Highlighting the role of a mentor, which George believes is overhyped, he was quick to bring the focus back to the student, stating that if he wasn’t there for Samson, someone else would have been.
“The role of a coach or a mentor is overhyped and overrated. It’s the disciple that matters. It’s the student who matters. The mentor or the coach is there to show the way. If I wasn’t there, somebody else would have been there. I am not important. The player is important,” he believed.
Sanju Samson: The Sacrifices That Got Buried Under Success
But prodigy alone doesn’t build careers. What followed was a mix of extreme talent and even greater sacrifice. Samson travelled relentlessly, trained obsessively, carried school books to practice, and once, when advised to rest during a junior phase, chose instead to bowl 20 overs. The hunger was constant.
“Extremely talented, but he also made a lot of sacrifices as a kid. Fate has a funny way of making all your dreams come true. Sanju used to carry his books with him all the way, wanted to become an IPS officer. Now there is talk, like, I don’t know, like he might be conferred by the police. Everything will come through. He has his cricket, and he has his khaki. What else do you want?” he asked.
“When the under-13 matches were there. He played for Kerala for the first time. I think he scored around 1000 runs. And then scored a double century, followed by scores of 150, 280, 230, etc. And in one of these matches, he scored fewer. And in hindsight, I had asked the coach not to make him keep all these matches. Give him a break. And this kid (Samson), instead of taking a break, ended up bowling 20 overs,” he recalled.
🧭 The Making of Sanju Samson — A Timeline
| Phase | Moment | What Happened | Why It Matters |
| 🌧️ The Discovery (Age 11) | Rain-soaked miracle at Medical College Ground | Bats on a flooded, slippery surface “like concrete,” hitting sixes | The first undeniable sign — raw, uncoachable genius under extreme conditions |
| 🧠 Early Recognition | Backed by Biju George | Coach spots “something different” in one session | Talent identified early — sharp eye meets rare ability |
| 📚 Dual Dream Years | Cricket + IPS ambition | Travels with books, dreams of becoming an IPS officer | Discipline beyond sport — identity beyond cricket |
| 🏏 Junior Domination | Under-13 Kerala phase | Massive run tally (~1000 runs), double tons, consistent big scores | Establishes himself as a once-in-a-generation junior performer |
| 💔 First Major Setback | U-19 selection snub | Scores a century, still not selected (Hanuma Vihari picked) | Brutal reality — performance ≠ selection in India |
| 🔁 Resilience Phase | Leadership roles return | Comes back as vice-captain, continues climbing | Shows mental toughness over entitlement |
| 🔥 The Grind | Relentless routine | Long travel, early mornings, even bowls 20 overs instead of resting | Defines him — obsession over comfort |
| 🇮🇳 Arrival on Big Stage | IPL & India recognition | Breaks into elite cricket ecosystem | Talent finally meets visibility and opportunity |
| 👮 Dream Convergence | IPS echo in real life | Talks of police association alongside cricket career | Symbolic full circle — childhood dream meets adult reality |
| 🌱 The Legacy Loop | Back to grassroots | Inspiring more players to take to cricket in Kerela | Story expands — not just a player, but a pathway |
And yet, Indian cricket almost missed him. George recalls a defining blow: a century in Under-19 selection games, and still no place in the squad. Others, like Hanuma Vihari, went ahead fairly but decisively. It was a reminder of how fragile pathways can be, how easily a career can tilt on selection rooms rather than scorecards. Through it all, Samson endured. Promotions came later. Vice-captaincy, recognition, and the climb back into relevance. Fate, as George puts it, “rubbed him wrong” more than once, but never enough to break him.
George Spotted Samson Long Before India Noticed
“The lowest I saw him was when he was part of the under-19 system, during practice matches to pick the under-19 Indian team. This kid (Samson) scored a century and was still not part of the squad. Hanuma Vihari, I believe, was picked ahead of him. Hanuma too is a good player. All credit to him. But Sanju had scored a century, and he was not picked. And then the under-16 NCA happened, he was captaining and all. When the under-19 team was formed, Sanju became the vice-captain, and Vijay Zol became the captain. A lot of the time, fate has rubbed him the wrong way. But still the kid is good,” he further said. Because long before India noticed, George spotted a boy in the rain refusing to slip.
Even while playing for the national team, the rub of the green has not always gone Samson’s way. With players like Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, just to name a few, having a longer rope, Samson, somehow, even after scoring runs, has found himself at the receiving end. For some reason, he was not able to translate his IPL form into international cricket. But as George rightly mentioned, fate has its own way to level things out at the end of the day. When you give your heart and soul to a sport, it has its own way of giving it back with interest.
The T20 World Cup 2026 remains a classic example. The tournament started, and Samson squandered opportunity after opportunity in the group stages. As if he was destined to fail, threatening to cut short his career that promised so much. And when the moment came, with the hopes of the country lying by a piece of thread, the 31-year-old played, not one, but three back-to-back knocks that, in the history of the T20 World Cup cricket, will go down as its everlasting folklore.
