Not MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson picks this star as his 'all-time cricketing idol'

Indian wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson is currently in the limelight because of speculations around his Indian Premier League (IPL) future. There are strong talks that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain is planning to change his franchise in the cash-rich league; he wants to join the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Samson, recently featured on the YouTube show with the legendary cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, revealed that the India ODI captain Rohit Sharma is his cricketing idol. Here is the excerpt from the conversation.

Ashwin: Your all time cricketing idol and one modern-day player that you get excited to watch as a fan

Sanju Samson: Idol... Hmm, that's a big question. Rohit Sharma.

After retiring from T20Is, winning the T20 World Cup 2024 final, Rohit recently hung up his boots from the longest format of the game after having a forgetful outing in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2025 as Pat Cummins-led side defeated India 3-1 in the five Test match series to seal their berth for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

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Since Rohit Sharma's retirement from the T20I format, Samson took over his place as an opener, and Suryakumar Yadav was appointed his successor to lead India. He made a fearsome batting duo with Abhishek Sharma. They have been outstanding at the top of the order, with Samson rejuvenating his T20I career with a string of impressive outings.

Overall, he has amassed 861 runs at an average of 25.3 and a blistering strike rate of 152.4. Considering his performance in the format, it's highly likely that he will open the batting for India in the upcoming Asia Cup.

Samson's last cricketing outing came in the Indian Premier League, where he missed the five matches of the tournament; the franchise appointed Riyan Parag as stand-in captain. Rajasthan Royals (RR) ended their campaign as the second-last team with just four wins. Samson's last international outing came in February against England.