Matches (13)
IPL 2023 (4)
NZ v SL (1)
CWC QLF (4)
WI 4-Day (3)
SA v NL (1)

Full Name

Sanju Viswanath Samson

Born

November 11, 1994, Pulluvila, Vizhinjam, Trivandrum

Age

28y 142d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

Playing Role

Wicketkeeper Batter

Sanju Samson was perhaps the first top-drawer Indian player to be known primarily for his feats for his IPL franchise than for the national side. A Rajasthan Royals mainstay, he has made over 3000 runs for them in the course of his first eight seasons.

Samson moved to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala in his early teens after taking his first cricket lessons in Delhi, where his father worked as a police constable. In Kerala, he created waves on the junior circuit with his batting, showing impressive technique and an ability to time the ball crisply. He made it to the India side for the Under-19 Asia Cup in 2011 but did not impress in the tournament, and missed out on selection for India's U-19 World Cup side the following year.

Rajasthan Royals bought Samson at the IPL auction in 2013, when he was 18, and save for the two years when the side was out of the league for a ban, he has been a fixture in their line-up. He was appointed captain in 2021, when he made 484 runs, kicking off with a barnstorming 119 off 63 balls in their tournament opener, against Punjab Kings, followed by three 40s in a row later in the season, and then an unbeaten 70 and 82 in back-to-back games. His fine, consistent displays did not reflect in Royals' finishes on the tournament's points table, which continued to be disappointing up until 2022, when they were second (Samson made 458 runs that year).

He made his first-class debut in 2011-12, and impressed with bat and as keeper for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy. In 2013-14 he finished with 530 runs at an average of just under 60, including a double-hundred in his first game; that was followed by 475 runs the next season. In 2015-16, he was 20 when he was appointed captain of the Kerala side. In October 2019, in a showcase of his by then formidable white-ball skills, Samson made 212 not out, the highest score in the history of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the time, for Kerala against Goa.

A call-up to the India T20 side came in July 2015, and he made his debut against Zimbabwe in Harare, but then went four and a half years before his next game in the format for India. He made his ODI debut in 2021, which was followed a gap again, of a year before he played his next ODI - in a series in the West Indies, where he made 54 in the second match.

Career Averages
Batting & Fielding
FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
ODI1110533086*66.00315104.7602251572
T20I171613017720.06225133.7701231392
FC58967344621138.71592858.13101539781797
List A115108153014212*32.40333590.371172569111615
T2022722023561711928.514257131.9433545824012022
Bowling
FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
ODI11------------
T20I17------------
FC581670---7.00-000
List A115------------
T2022713411/41/44.008.003.0000
Sanju Viswanath Samson
Explore Statsguru Analysis
ODI
T20I
Recent Matches - Player
MatchBatWktDateGroundFormat
India vs Sri Lanka5--03-Jan-2023WankhedeT20I # 1984
Kerala vs Chhattisgarh46--27-Dec-2022ThumbaFC
Kerala vs Rajasthan82 & 69--20-Dec-2022JaipurFC
Kerala vs Jharkhand72 & 151c/0s & 2c/0s13-Dec-2022RanchiFC
India vs New Zealand36--25-Nov-2022AucklandODI # 4483
Videos
Photos
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya hug Axar Patel with Sanju Samson joining in the winning celebration
Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson at a training session
Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer added quick runs for the fifth wicket
Big fans of Sanju Samson, you reckon?
David Miller can't help but stare at the pitch, while Sanju Samson celebrates the former's wicket
Sanju Samson embraces Kuldeep Yadav, as Bjorn Fortuin walks back