From Vizhinjam to T20 World Cup hero: Kerala to honour Sanju Samson on March 16 in TVM
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government will accord an official reception to honour cricketer Sanju Samson, the architect of India's victory in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and the Player of the Tournament, in the state capital on Monday.
The reception will be held at the Central Stadium at 4 pm, state Sports Minister V Abdurahiman has said in a statement.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the function, which will be attended by the sports minister, Chief Secretary and other senior officials, it said.
Samson, who hails from the coastal town of Vizhinjam, played a crucial role in India's triumph in the tournament with a string of impressive batting performances.
His consistent performance, including in the virtual quarter-final, semi-final and final, were instrumental in helping India secure the title.
Sanju scored 97 against the West Indies in the must-win Super Eights, and then came up with identical 89 against England in the semifinal and the New Zealand in the finale at Ahmedabad.
The World Cup also marked a strong comeback for the Keralite cricketer after a brief dip in form, the statement said, adding that elaborate arrangements have been made by the Sports Department to accord him a grand reception.
Earlier Samson said his desire to live-up to the team's needs helped him overcome the initial apprehension of competing with his own teammates for a spot in the eleven during the recent T20 World Cup, and churn out a series of match-winning performances.
It completed a remarkable personal turnaround for the Kerala batter, who was moved out of India's starting eleven in the initial phase of the ICC showpiece after a lowkey bilateral home T20I series against New Zealand.
"I am the type of a person who do much better for others than doing things better for myself. In that series (against NZ), I was competing with my own people (for a place in the team) and I was not very comfortable with it," Sanju said during India Today Conclave.
Sanju admitted that the failure to find a place in the eleven left him a broken man.
"I was too desperate knowing that my dream is so near. But was the team still trying some combinations? So, is Sanju there or not there? So, that kind of feeling played in my mind at that time," he said.
"I was absolutely broken because my dream was to win the World Cup and I am not even in the XI. So, actually I was gone away for 5-6 days and I started rebuilding myself. Started preparing myself knowing you never know what the game want to give back to you," he said.
PTI