From a Bench Warmer To a National Hero

Stay close to your core.

Let your core feed you or bleed you.

But never abandon it.

This is the inspiring story of a young man from Kerala who once sat quietly on the reserve bench of the team, watching others lift the ICC Men's T20 World Cup trophy in 2024 in the West Indies. Two years later, he would stand on the podium as the “Player of the Tournament”.

His name is Sanju Samson.

In 2024 he was good enough to make the India national cricket team, but not good enough to play a single match. The tournament came and went, and Sanju remained what critics often called him — a “bench warmer.”

Later, he was part of India’s tour of Australia. Once again, he travelled with the team, trained with the team, but watched the matches from the sidelines. Opportunity knocked rarely.

When he finally got chances in a few games, the results were disappointing. His batting failed him badly. The team management tried him in different batting positions, searching for the right fit. His wicket-keeping remained dependable, but in a country like India, where talent flows like a river, dependability alone is often not enough.

Soon new young players arrived with explosive performances. Sanju was dropped.

For any sportsperson, this is the most dangerous moment , when the world begins to doubt you and slowly you begin to doubt yourself.

Emotionally drained and questioning his own ability, the dream of becoming a World Cup hero began to feel almost unrealistic. Even his most loyal supporters were preparing themselves for the possibility that their hero’s time had passed.

But there was one thing Sanju refused to abandon, his “core”.

Even when he was out of the team, he practiced like a man who believed his opportunity could come in the next match.

When the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup began in India, the team’s famous young opening pair initially struggled under pressure. Yet India kept winning, someone or the other stepped up in every match.

Then came the shock.

South Africa defeated India convincingly in a group match. The defeat stunned the stadium into silence. When you play India in India, you are not facing just eleven players,  you are facing an entire nation in the stands. Criticism drowned the Captain and the Coach.

The team management analysed the problem quickly. Their two left-handed openers were struggling against certain right-arm bowling angles. The solution was simple but bold, introduce a right-handed batter at the top and add to the fire power in the Power-play.

That meant bringing Sanju Samson back.

Some critics mocked the decision. Some even said India was effectively playing with ten players. The coach and the captain remained steadfast in their decision.

Those inside the team knew something important: Sanju had been practicing every day as if his chance would come tomorrow.

His first two matches at the group level were ordinary. Critics snarled as India’s chance of getting into the knock out stage following the defeat became thin, but the management kept him on even after they reached the knock out stage.

The Virtual Quarter Finals, the first match in the Knock-Out changed everything.

At Eden Gardens in Kolkata, chasing 197 against the West Indies wickets kept falling around him. Amid the chaos stood Sanju Samson , calm, composed, and unshakeable.

He scored ‘97 not out’, guiding India to victory and into the semi-finals. The country suddenly sat up and noticed. The hero they were looking for in the World Cup has arrived. Overnight, the former bench warmer became a national hero.

In the semi-final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India was put to bat first. Sanju delivered again,  a magnificent ‘89 runs’, helping India post 253. England chased valiantly, the match was won by seven runs. The nation erupted.  Senior cricketers and commentators gave him his due. Millions began following him on social media. His journey from obscurity to stardom captured the imagination of the country.

Then came the final. At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India lost the toss and were asked to bat on a tricky new pitch. Once again Sanju rose to the occasion. He scored another brilliant 89, leading India to a massive total of 255. The top three batters all scored rapid fifties, a trio, cricket experts later called “The Famous Three.” New Zealand never recovered. India won the final by 96 runs. The disgrace of being a joke to even the most Junior cricketers of the team turned to respect.

Sanju Samson finished the tournament with 321 runs at a strike rate of 199.37 from five innings and was named “Player of the Tournament”. He hit 24 sixes in these many innings.  

Behind this story lies another powerful story.

The story of a father, a Delhi policeman from a small fishing village in Kerala, and a mother who believed in the power of sports and their children’s dreams. They took their young boys to cricket training from the age of five.

Eventually the father made a life-changing decision: he left his job and moved the family back to their village in Thiruvananthapuram so that his children could pursue cricket seriously even though it meant he had to work harder and longer to give them the training and the playing gears. The youngest boy in that family was Sanju Viswanath Samson. The boy who spent more time sitting on the national team benches than playing matches. The boy who sometimes failed so badly that even he doubted his own talent. Yet he kept working.

He stayed true to his “core”. Today his story has entered the folklore of Indian cricket, a story that will be told and retold for generations. Not because he scored runs. But because he never abandoned the talent he believed God had given him. So remember this:

Stay true to your core.

Work on your gifts.

Trust the abilities placed inside you.

Even when you feel like nothing more than a bench warmer, if you stay close to your core, one day your core will deliver you. It could be tomorrow, or the day after.

But it will.