Abid ⚡️

*Sanju Samson*: " When people talk about my journey, they usually start with stadiums. *For me, it always begins with a bus.* I was eleven. My kit bag felt heavier than me. *I would leave home in Vizhinjam before the sun came up, change two buses, and reach the Medical College ground by 6 in the morning. Some days I was sleepy. Some days I was sore. But I don’t remember ever wanting to skip it* . After practice, I would bathe under a small tap at the corner of the ground. No dressing room. Just cold water, a towel in my bag, and a quick change into my school uniform. Then I’d walk to catch another bus to St Joseph’s. School, homework, and then back again for evening nets. That was my life. Every day I didn’t think of it as a sacrifice. I just thought — this is what it takes. *My grandfather was a fisherman. Watching him, I understood something early. You can’t control the sea. You can only control how prepared you are when you go out. Some days you come back with nothing. But you still wake up the next morning and go again. That stayed with me* . There were phases when I felt close to my dream. And phases when I felt very far from it. Being dropped. Sitting out. Hearing opinions. Smiling outside but questioning yourself inside. I won’t lie, it hurts. I’m human. *But every time I feel that doubt, I go back in my mind to that small tap at the ground. To the buses. To my parents adjusting their lives around my practice. I remind myself that this journey was never built on comfort. It was built on consistency* . When I play in Thiruvananthapuram and hear the crowd shout my name, it feels personal. They didn’t just see me succeed. They saw me grow. They saw the process. I am still that boy from Vizhinjam. I still love batting the same way. I still get nervous. I still want to prove myself. The only difference is the stage. *The fight hasn’t stopped. It probably never will* . *Because for me, cricket was never about fame* . *It was about a dream I chose , and keep choosing : every single day* . " *~ Sanju Samson*