KOCHI: The crowd of Kerala cricket team members pooled around their teammate Sanju V Samson expecting a jubilant announcement. But Sanju stood smiling at them in silence, as if there was nothing important to share, except maybe that his bearing attained some involuntary tinges of bashfulness. Soon, his smile spread to the rest of the team and it grew into a collective laughter, and then a racket.
This is how the Kerala team, assembled at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here, celebrated Sanju’s call-up to the Indian team touring Zimbabwe and the news of him becoming Kerala captain on Monday.
No words exchanged; just some laughs. Perhaps, it is this congruity and understanding among the players that is the strong point of the Kerala team ahead of a fresh season. And Sanju, an unassuming 20-year-old, was evidently the cynosure of all of their eyes.
“It is a big news for all of us. We are all very excited,” said Kerala’s promising pacer Basil Thamp, who has just wound up the under-23 Indian camp in Bengaluru. “Sanju gives us reason to hope. After all, we all aim for the opportunity that he got today,” he added excitedly.
Meanwhile, Sanju appeared calm, undisturbed by the sudden rush of excitement typical of a situation like this.
“Mathew sir (BCCI vice-president T C Mathew) called me in the morning. As soon as I picked up, he said congratulations. So I asked him why, and he broke the news to me,” said the wicket-keeper batsman.
Called to the second-string Indian squad as a replacement, Sanju is aware of his chances to feature in the playing eleven. “I have no wish that I should get a chance to play for the country now itself. I have been selected to the squad and I am happy about it,” said Sanju, who was first drafted into the Indian ODI team for its tour of England in 2014. Though he was in the 17-man squad, he didn’t get a chance to play then.
“Certainly, there is chance for him to play this time, or they wouldn’t have called him up to Zimbabwe. Even if he doesn’t play, that is ok. Age is on his side and a lot of opportunities will come his way,” said Kerala coach P Balachandran.