“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 revealed in an old video that has resurfaced on social media.
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
Former India fast bowler S Sreesanth earlier confirmed this story in an interview with Sportskeeda where he said that he initially lied to Dravid but the current India coach was impressed with Samson’s batting.
“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 had said.
“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.
