IPL 2022: Sanju Samson Makes 100th Appearance For Rajasthan. Here Is All About His Royal Journey

He is only the second player after Ajikya Rahane to play 100 matches for the Royals

New Delhi: Sanju Samson made his 100th appearance for Rajasthan Royals (played 6 matches for RR in now-defunct Champions League T20) on Tuesday during their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is the only second player after Ajikya Rahane to play 100 matches for the Royals.

This edition of IPL will be Sanju's second stint as captain of the Royals. "He is one of the best T20 players and retaining him for IPL 2022 was a no brainer," said RR head coach Kumara Sangakkara, heaping praises on the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter.

The Kerala lad has shot into the limelight in 2012 when he was just 18 years old. He proved his batting prowess with a double hundred in the Ranji Trophy, which catapulted him into the reckoning for Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2013 season.

In his maiden IPL edition, a terrific 63 off 41 balls against the mighty Royal Challengers Bangalore confirmed the colt as one of the best finds and by end of the showpiece event that season, he piled up 206 runs in 11 matches to take home the prestigious "Best Young Player of the Season, IPL 2013" award. 

Since then, there has been no looking back. He holds the record for the youngest batsman to score 1,000 and 2,000 runs in IPL. For the first three years at Rajasthan, he was groomed by Rahul Dravid into a tough campaigner till 2016.

Cut to 2022, Sanju has grown leaps and bounds in terms of talent since he first stepped into the Royals' fort. The Kerala batter became an integral part of the team, so much so that ahead of this edition, the Royals' top honchos decided to retain him in the first place even though it boasted of star players like Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer.

But it wasn't all roses and lilies for Sanju. He faced brickbats in the 2016-17 domestic season due to disciplinary issues. "I think you need to have bad times to learn about life. If you keep on being successful, you do not learn. If you do mistakes, you learn from them and become a better person. My past has helped me become a better cricketer and human being," the right-handed batsman told PTI after scoring a maiden IPL ton in 2017. 

Over the course of years, Sanju has earned laurels for his gritty knocks that have proved that he is on course to find himself a permanent place in the dressing room of Team India. However, Sanju, who has made 13 appearances for India in T20 cricket, has failed to set the stage on fire so far.

After 2016, he had a short two-year-stint at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) where he played some crucial innings but was back in Rajasthan's fold in 2018.

In 2019, the wicketkeeper-batter scored 342 runs followed by 375 in the next season. He was then appointed the captain of the Royals. In the last season, he scored a staggering 484 runs, including a century in the first match, after taking over the captaincy. He became the first IPL skipper to achieve the feat. He ended the 2021 season on a high, becoming the sixth-highest run-getter of the tournament.      

It's been a dry run for the Royals since the first IPL triumph in 2008, when late Shane Warne led the team to clinch the title. Can Sanju lead the team to another crown in 2022?