How Sreesanth's lie to Rahul Dravid paved way for Sanju Samson to enter Rajasthan Royals in the IPL

Sanju Samson currently captains Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

Sanju Samson has revealed that S Sreesanth’s one lie to Rahul Dravid enabled him to play for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The intriguing story, told by Samson himself and supported by veteran Indian cricketer Sreesanth, sheds light on the unforeseen twists and turns of fate in professional cricket.

Sanju Samson had his first taste of IPL glory in 2009 when he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, in the three seasons with them, Samson didn’t get a chance to play for them. He was then bought by the Rajasthan Royals at the IPL 2013 auction and still couldn’t make an impression on the management. Just as hopes were fading, Samson’s Kerala statemate Sreesanth proved to be a game changer for him.

In an old video of Samson speaking on a Malayalam TV show, the batsman recounted how Sreesanth lied to Rahul Dravid, the then-RR captain, by claiming that this youngster from Kerala had hammered 6 sixes from 6 balls, which helped him obtain playing time in RR.

“Being with KKR, I wasn’t getting a look-in. But during a match against RR, when [Rahul] Dravid was leading them, Sreesanth spotted him in the hotel lobby and vouched for me. He told him, ‘There’s this kid from Kerala who smashed six sixes in an over in a local tournament. We should definitely give him a trial,” Samson said in that video.

Was in KKR but couldn't get games, Sreeshanth was in RR & when we had a game with RR where Dravid was their skipper, Sreeshanth stopped Dravid in the hotel & told him, this kid is from kerala, he has hit 6 sixes in an over in a local tourney, we should give him a trial & sanju is… pic.twitter.com/PaxWLb1C90

— arfan (@Im__Arfan) May 5, 2024

When Rahul bhai saw Sanju Samson bat, he was convinced: Sreesanth

Samson’s story was corroborated earlier when Sreesanth admitted to using lies to get the young wicket-keeper batter into the RR squad. Sreesanth delightfully explained that, even though Dravid noticed his deception right away, The Wall quickly saw what a fantastic talent Samson had.

“Rahul bhai listened to me when I introduced Sanju to him. I lied to him, I said, ‘This kid hit me for six sixes in a local tournament’. Rahul bhai said, ‘Shree, kuch bhi bol, ye kyu bol raha hai?’ (Say anything, but why are you lying like this),” Sreesanth said on Sportskeeda.

“He didn’t do too well in a few practice games. But when Rahul bhai saw him bat, he was convinced; he came to me and said, ‘Sree, don’t let this Sanju guy go to any other selection; we are signing him. Whether or not he’d get matches, I don’t know, but we would like to sign him,” he added.

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