"Oye Sachin aur uske papa bhi jaa rahe hai bhai, ye banega Tendulkar?" - Sanju Samson on how his family tolerated insults during his childhood
Sanju Samson believes a lot of credit for whatever he has achieved in his cricketing career so far should go to his family. Like many young cricketers, Samson's loved ones supported him and ensured that he had the best possible facilities with minimal burden on him.
The top-order batter grew up in Delhi and had to struggle to play cricket consistently. He also shared that his father would carry his kit bag to the bus stand and how the people there would make fun of them.
Speaking on the YouTube show 'Breakfast with Champions', Sanju Samson spoke about the hardships his parents faced to ensure he had a chance to fulfill his dreams of playing cricket professionally. He said:
"My father and mother used to pick my kit bag, which was very heavy, to the bus stand. There used to be noise from behind "Oye Sachin aur uske papa bhi jaa rahe hai bhai, ye banega Tendulkar?" (Oh look, Sachin and his father are also going. Will he become Tendulkar?) So he has also tolerated a lot of taunts."
The Rajasthan Royals skipper also shed light on his brother's impact and contribution in him eventually playing for India. He added:
"But they and mainly my brother were confident that I would play for India. My brother told me that it was his superstition to not tell me that I would play for India but he always knew from within that I was capable."
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Sanju Samson on his father's sacrifices
One of the bold decisions that Sanju Samson's father made when the former was young was shifting to Kerala from Delhi. After realizing that Samson wasn't going to get ample chances to play domestic cricket in Delhi, his father was the one who pushed him to play for Kerala.
To ensure that Sanju Samson went to practice regularly, his father took voluntary retirement from the Delhi police and concentrated fully on his son's future. On this, the 27-year-old stated:
"My father was in Delhi police. We tried 1-2 trials but failed and then he decided that me and my brother would try playing from Kerala. After two years, he took voluntary retirement from Delhi police and came to Kerala and took me to practice. It was a challenging phase but our parents didn't make me realise that they were struggling for me."
Samson has definitely made the sacrifices of his parents worthwhile by playing for India. He will be keen to go on and cement his place in the Indian team.