3 times an Indian player and a state board were at loggerheads ft. Sanju Samson vs KCA
Team India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson and the Kerala Cricket Association had an ugly fight over the former not playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. Many also reckoned that it played a role in Samson missing out on a place in India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad.
Meanwhile, this is not new. Many cricketers have previously been involved in ugly fights with their state cricket associations. Let's look at three instances when an Indian player and a state board were at loggerheads.
#1 Hanuma Vihari vs Andhra Cricket Association
Veteran India cricketer Hanuma Vihari and his state body Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) had an ugly fight after the Ranji Trophy campaign last year.
Vihari accused the Andhra cricket board of forcing him to step down as captain. He also slammed a reserve teammate, who seems to be the son of a politician, alleging that he had requested his father to take action against him after the seasoned player threw expletives at him during a match.
The ACA initiated a probe against Vihari on behavioral grounds before the cricketer threatened to leave the state to play for a different team. However, the dust settled and Vihari returned to the Andhra team after he was assured full support by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the state's new ruling party.
#2 Deepak Hooda vs Baroda Cricket Association
The tussle between Deepak Hooda and the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) began after the former fought with Krunal Pandya during the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Hooda accused Pandya, who was the captain of the team at the time, of using abusive language and threatening to end his career. However, the BCA decided to suspend Hooda after carefully reviewing the complaints. The 29-year-old all-rounder eventually left Baroda to represent Rajasthan in the domestic cricket.
Interestingly, the two cricketers amicably settled the issue between them and also represented the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) together in the IPL.
#3 Sanju Samson vs Kerala Cricket Association
Sanju Samson and the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) had a public fallout after the former failed to turn up for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
KCA secretary Vinod S Kumar revealed that while Samson did confirm his availability for their tournament opener against Baroda, it was too late to include him in the squad.
"But by then, the squad was finalized. It would have been unfair to sacrifice a youngster at that point," Kumar said on Onmanorama.
Since then, the Kerala cricket board has received severe backlash, which intensified after reports claimed that several players were named in the squad despite missing the three-day camp.
Renowned politician Shashi Tharoor slammed the KCA for ruining Sanju Samson's international career. He wrote on X:
"The sorry saga of the Kerala Cricket Association and Sanju Samson -- the player wrote to KCA, in advance, regretting his inability to attend a training camp between the SMA and the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournaments, and was promptly dropped from the squad -- has now resulted in Sanju's exclusion from the Indian team.”
"A batsman who has a highest score of 212* in the Hazare, who averages 56.66 in ODIs for India (including a century in his last outing, against South Africa) is having his career destroyed by the egos of cricket administrators. Doesn't it bother the KCA bosses that by leaving Sanju out, they ensured Kerala didn't even reach the quarter-finals of the Hazare? Where does this leave him?” Tharoor added.