Suryakumar Yadav teases fans in Thiruvananthapuram with Sanju Samson's picture. (Screengrab)Sanju Samson is currently leading the India A team against New Zealand in Chennai. He is not even part of India’s T20 World Cup squad for the South Africa series, but his fan following in his home state has been second to none.
The Indian cricket team has reached Thiruvananthapuram on Monday for the first T20 international match against South Africa to be played on Tuesday.
The fans also chanted the name of local hero Sanju Samson, who is not even in the squad.
RR Admin since 2013:pic.twitter.com/Tvb1VwsAuD
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 26, 2022
India’s middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav took his phone out and showed Sanju Samson’s picture to the fans standing near the bus. He first pointed a finger towards it and then gave a thumbs up.
R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal has tagged Sanju Samson in their Instagram stories. (Screengrab) India spinner R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal tagged the discarded wicket-keeper batter in their Instagram stories as they shared pictures of fans giving the team a rousing welcome at the airport.
Having shot to prominence as a teenager and then making his International debut in a T20I against Zimbabwe here in 2015, the Kerala cricketer has featured only in seven ODIs and 16 T20Is till date.
Samson finally got chances in the second-string side in team’s recent tour of Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He will make way for regular keeper-batter Rishabh Pant when the Asia Cup begins in the UAE.
Samson finished among top-10 leading run-getters in the IPL-2022 with 458 runs from 17 matches.