"More Interested In Talking About...": Sanju Samson's Act Minutes After T20 World Cup Selection Wins Hearts

April 8, 2008. Sanju Samson, then a skinny 14-year-old, curled on the bed in his hotel room, watched Kolkata Knight Riders' Brendon McCullum hammering a 73-ball 158 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first-ever IPL match. That drizzly evening in Kottayam, a town in central Kerala, changed his heart. Forever. Sanju reshuffled his career dream, from wanting to become a civil servant to entering the elite world of a top-flight cricketer. "Sanju always recollects that day, which gave him the dream of reaching that league of top players one day," said former Kerala player Raiphi Vincent Gomez, also a close friend of the wicketkeeper batter.

But merely having a dream will not take anyone to the top of their profession, more so in sports.

Sanju then had oodles of determination too to walk down his chosen path.

Biju George, the former India women's cricket team's fielding coach and the early mentor of the Kerala player, saw that brightly flickering flame inside Sanju.

"Rain or sunshine Sanju and his brother Saly will be at nets at the Medical College ground in Thiruvananthapuram. It was raining heavily one day here, and I thought Sanju would not come for nets from his home at Vizhinjam, nearly 25 kilometres from the centre.

"But he was there on time. He carried his (cricket) kit in which he also stuffed his school uniform, so that he could go to school after training. Even at that age, he had next level resolve," said George.

Perhaps, that discipline came from his family. Viswanath, his father, was a football player with Delhi Police for nearly two decades and firmly supported his son's aspirations.

He would arrange nets for Sanju and his brother with the Delhi Police team, and they often played against cricketers much