Amid growing reports and chatter around his IPL trade/transfer from the Rajasthan Royals, India wicket-keeper Sanju Samson returned to competitive action through an exhibition match held at the Greenfield Cricket Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
The Kerala Cricket Association hosted the friendly T20 match comprising the top stars from the state on Independence Day after the inauguration of the revamped floodlight system at the venue. Samson was named captain of the KCA Secretary XI, while veteran Sachin Baby led the KCA President’s side.
Samson’s stroke-filled fifty
Playing his first match of note since a sour end to the IPL 2025 campaign with Rajasthan, Samson stood up in a tall chase of 185 against the President’s XI. Moving down to No. 4, away from his recent position in India’s T20I set-up, Samson had a tepid start in the chase. Walking in after the Powerplay, Samson slowly upped the scoring rate, slamming two fours and three sixes.
Samson eventually fell on 54 off 36 balls with three runs required in as many deliveries. However, the Secretary’s XI squeezed past Baby’s men by one wicket, thanks to pacer Basil Thampi’s winning first-ball six.
Samson had not featured in a match under the aegis of the Kerala Cricket Association following the controversies that had emerged last December when the 30-year-old was dropped from the Vijay Hazare Trophy after failing to turn up for a preparatory camp. While Samson was in contention to return for the Ranji Trophy knockout fixtures in February, the explosive right-hander was ruled out after a fracture he sustained in a T20I against England.
The Indian Express had previously reported that Samson had expressed his desire to part ways with the Rajasthan Royals franchise. Reports have since emerged with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders marked as firm favourites to sign him up.
Greenfield’s revamped floodlight system
With reports suggesting that the Thiruvananthapuram venue could replace Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium as one of the hosting venues for the forthcoming Women’s ODI World Cup, the Greenfield Stadium received a massive upgrade comprising four towers and 392 LED lights on Friday. KCA secretary Vinod S Kumar said that the project was completed at Rs 18 crore rupees.
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KCA Exhibition Match Brief Scorecard
President’s XI 184/8 in 20 overs (Rohan Kunnumal 60, Abhijith Praveen 47; Sharafudden 3/25) lost to Secretary’s XI 188/9 in 19.4 overs (Vishnu Vinod 69, Sanju Samson 54) by one wicket.
