KCA issues show-cause notice to Samson

Sanju Samson is alleged to have walked out of the stadium in Mumbai after his dismissal © BCCI

The Kerala Cricket Association has issued a show-cause notice to Sanju Samson for alleged acts of indiscipline during the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, and has appointed a four-member committee to look into the allegations. Samson has been subsequently been dropped for Kerala’s ongoing match against Tripura in Cuttack for disciplinary reasons.

KCA secretary TN Ananthanarayanan alleged Samson had misbehaved on several instances during the season. He is also said to have left the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai without informing the team management while the game against Goa was in progress.

“After he was out for 0 in the second innings, he returned and broke his bat in the dressing room,” Ananthanarayanan told ESPNcricinfo. “He then went out without informing anybody in the middle of the match and came back only at 8 or 9 pm. We didn’t tell BCCI or anybody else regarding this because he is an upcoming player and we want to encourage him. But, he hasn’t been co-operating with the team management.”

According to Ananthanarayanan, Samson had complained of a knee injury ahead of the Tripura game and wanted to go to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for rehabilitation. According to Ananthanarayanan, prevailing fitness issues within the squad – Akshay Chandran, Akshay KC and Jalaj Saxena were all injured and weren’t available for the ongoing game – played a hand in KCA not releasing him from the squad.

“Soon after he was dropped, Samson’s father, Vishwanadh Samson, came to Cuttack and insisted on taking his son back to Trivandrum.,” Ananthanarayanan said. “Sanju’s father called our president [TC Mathew] and used bad language against him.” However, according to a Times of India report, Vishwanadh Samson admitted to speaking to Mathew, but denied abusing him.

“There is no truth in the allegation. Why should I abuse the KCA president who has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the game,” he asked. “I won’t play with my child’s future. I don’t know from where such baseless stories emanate.” ESPNcricinfo’s attempts to contact Sanju, Samson and KCA president Mathew remained unsuccessful.

Ananthanarayanan said the inquiry committee will hear the matter by the middle of December. “[KCA vice-president] TR Balakrishnan is the chairman of the committee, which comprises Sreejith V Nair, S Ramesh and P Ranganathan,” he said. “The committee has to decide by when Samson should respond to the show-cause.”

Samson started the season with 154 and 47 in Kerala’s first two games, but has failed to get into double digits in four of his last five innings, which include two ducks. Prior to that, he was part of the India A squad that toured Australia in July-August. He scored 147 runs in five innings, including two fifties, in the 50-over quadrangular tournament. He then played the second unofficial Test against Australia A and managed 47 runs in two innings.

Arun Venugopal is a correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @scarletrun

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.


Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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