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Sanju Samson with MS Dhoni (Source: @mrstranger005/X)
Sanju Samson made his IPL debut back in 2013, for the Rajasthan Royals, when he was just 19 years old. The young boy from Trivandrum impressed everyone almost immediately with his stylish batting and stroke play.
Sanju played for the Royals from 2013 to 2015, then he moved to the Delhi Daredevils for a couple of seasons before coming back in the pink jersey in 2018. He became the captain of the franchise in 2021 and led them to their first final since the inaugural edition in 2022.
Samson's love story with the Royals ends abruptly
Samson was the face of the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL; the RR brand revolved around him as the main man of the franchise. But despite all that, Sanju's international career and even his IPL career didn't pan out as everyone expected them to.
Back in his early days, the expectation was that Samson would go on to become one of the big names in Indian cricket, but currently, he's limited to a player who's still waiting to make a name for himself as every cricket fan would've liked.
Samson has been dropped from the Indian ODI squad for the upcoming series against South Africa, but even before that, he never really got consistent opportunities for the Indian cricket team.
He's either on the bench or plays out of position for the Indian team, which has never allowed him to grow to his full potential in Indian cricket. In whatever limited opportunities he's got, Samson has shown what he is truly capable of.
Now Sanju Samson has moved to the Chennai Super Kings, one of the most successful teams in the IPL. We've seen how the career graph of some players has moved up after playing for CSK, and Sanju will hope for something like that too.
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Sanju Samson becomes a super king
One thing is for sure: at least now, you need people and fans talking about you to stay relevant in Indian cricket. It's not that Sanju Samson didn't have any fans or people backing him at RR, but it turns into a totally different thing at CSK.
CSK, arguably, has the biggest and most passionate fanbase in franchise cricket. They love their players like anything, and if Samson can succeed in the yellow jersey, then his 'brand' in Indian cricket will certainly grow manifold.
CSK is known for role clarity and backing their players, not that Sanju needs all that, but if you look at former CSK players' statements, you'd understand that the franchise treats their players differently.
But there is a strong possibility that with Ruturaj Gaikwad also not getting enough opportunities for the national side and Dhoni at his potentially last season in the IPL, the CSK management may have big plans for Sanju.
Sanju moving to a big franchise and performing well may increase his chances of getting a consistent run in the national side, and he'll go only upwards from there if he does well.
Sanju Samson as successor of Thala Dhoni?
It is said that 'Dhoni is CSK, and CSK is Dhoni.' Everything about the franchise revolves around Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He's the face of the franchise, and if he's playing, then all the focus will be on him.
As mentioned earlier, Sanju was the face of the Royals, their captain, but here he'll have to be under Dhoni's shadow till the former Indian captain continues playing in the IPL. It will be interesting to see how it will affect Sanju's growth.
Another thing is that CSK seem to be very confident about Ruturaj as their captain. MS Dhoni chose him as his successor at the franchise, and the Super Kings are known for backing their players.
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Sanju Samson celebrating his century (Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X)
So things will be different for Samson, as the 31-year-old is not the first choice captaincy option for the franchise, and with Dhoni around, he'll have to be under his shadow for the time being.
But considering how CSK is moving away from their traditional approach, it can happen that we'll get to see Sanju leading the franchise sometime in the future, especially if he performs consistently and Dhoni hangs up his boots after the 2026 season.
He is experienced as a captain in the IPL, and the current CSK side is quite young, and Gaikwad also has the experience of leading the franchise for only 2 years.
Turning point for both CSK and Samson
Chennai Super Kings are clearly going through a transiiton or a total revamp phase. They traded Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and released Matheesha Pathirana and many other players.
It's highly possible that this will be Dhoni's last season, and CSK have been trying to get Sanju for some time now.
Now that they've got him, if Sanju performs to his potential with consistency, then it'll be difficult for the Indian cricket team management and the BCCI to keep him sidelined for long.
Sanju Samson made his T20I debut back in 2015 against Zimbabwe, and his next T20I game took four and a half years. To add to it, it took him 6 years from his T20I debut to make his ODI debut.
This shows that he's never gotten enough backing and opportunities. But now, Samson is with the Chennai Super Kings. A big franchise and guidance from a legend like MS Dhoni might be exactly what Sanju needed to take his career to the next level. Considering all this, only time will tell how Samson's career goes from here on.
