The chants of “Sanju..Sanju” have reverberated everywhere Sanju Samson has travelled in the past couple of months as part of the Indian team squad. Whether it is Dublin, Trinidad, Florida or Harare – Samson has become quite a popular and fan-favourite.
Here are a few videos of his craze among fans at different international cricket venues.
In Ireland:
Huge cheer from the crowd for Sanju Samson! pic.twitter.com/OP61597mIr
— Cricket is Love
(@cricketfan__) June 28, 2022
(@cricketfan__) In Florida:
The crowd loves Sanju… and he loves them back!
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 9, 2022
: In Harare:
Caribbean fans of #SanjuSamson
Sanju Samson is an emotion.
— Rohit (@___Invisible_1) August 16, 2022
Sanju has delivered well in his opportunities after the IPL 2022: he struck his maiden T20I fifty, vs Ireland; then, on Saturday, in the second T20I vs Zimbabwe, he bagged his maiden Man of the Match award when he scored 43* runs off 39 balls in a run-chase and had taken 3 good catches behind the stumps.
Sanju smashed 4 sixes and 3 fours in his innings to further show the aggressive brand of cricket that the Indian management has asked for from their batters. And Samson also completed the chase with a six down the ground, with the crowd – even the partisan Zimbabwe fans – cheering loudly his name.
Sanju Samson explains why he has so many fans
Ahead of the third ODI vs Zimbabwe, Samson was asked by broadcaster Rohan Gavaskar about the massive fan following he has enjoyed on these recent trips and the support he’s gotten.
Samson said that he was a bit surprised by the amount of support and fans he’s got, but admitted that there are Malayalis in plenty in these regions so that underlines the heavy cheers.
“I am really surprised to see the support I get as I have played very few games for my country. But I feel being a Malayali, I get a great support. I can see people calling me ‘Chetta, Chetta’ as there are a lot of Malayalis supporting me here,” Samson said.
“I am very proud to be a Malayali and proud to represent my country as a Malayali so I am really happy to get that kind of a support but at the same time there is a pressure to perform. So, it [the support] really helps me to go out there and perform,” he added.
Samson, who is not part of the Asia Cup squad, would want to further put up an impressive performance in the third ODI vs Zimbabwe on Monday.
