Sanju Viswanath Samson ( born 11 November 1994) is an Indian international cricketer, who captains Kerala in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. A right-handed wicket-keeper-batter, he was the vice-captain of the Indian U-19 team for the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He made his India debut in the 2015 T20 international away against Zimbabwe. He made his One Day International debut in 2021 against Sri Lanka. Sanju started his cricketing career in Delhi and later moved to Kerala. After making an impact in junior cricket, he made his first-class debut for Kerala in 2011. He made his Premier League debut in 2013 for Rajasthan Royals and won the Emerging Player of the Year. He scored an unbeaten 212 in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the sixth time an Indian scored a double-century in List A cricket, which is also the second-fastest double century in the format. Samson was born on 11 November 1994 into a Malayali Christian family in Pulluvila, a coastal village near Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.[5] His father, Samson Viswanath, was formerly a police constable at Delhi Police and a retired football player who has represented Delhi in Santhosh Trophy and his mother, Ligy Viswanath is a housewife. His elder brother Saly Samson has represented Kerala in Junior cricket and currently works in the AG's office. Samson spent his early childhood in the Police residential colony in North Delhi neighbourhood of GTB Nagar and studied at Rosary Senior Secondary School, Delhi. He trained under coach Yashpal at the academy in DL DAV Model School, Shalimar Bagh. When Sanju didn't make it into the Delhi U-13 team for Dhruv Pandove Trophy, his father took voluntary retirement from the Delhi police force; a year after he retired from football and moved to Kerala, where Sanju and his brother continued their cricketing careers.In Kerala, he attended Masters Cricket Club in Thiruvananthapuram[14] before changing academies to train under Biju George on Medical College Ground, Thiruvananthapuram. Sanju Samson graduated high school from St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He pursued a B.A. degree in English literature from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram.
