Reports: Sanju Samson's father criticizes Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit, and Dravid for his son's career setbacks

Sanju Samson's father Samson Vishwanath had some stern words for MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rahul Dravid, blaming the legendary cricketers for impeding his son's career progress. Notably, Sanju made his international debut in July 2015 under Ajinkya Rahane's leadership at the Harare Sports Club. However, the latter was leading the tour in place of Dhoni, who didn't participate in the series.

Later, Sanju went on to play under Dhoni's captaincy but chances were few and far between. After Kohli took over the reins from Dhoni, Samson continued to be ignored as fans waited for the talented Kerala cricketer to get his chance to showcase his talent. The wicketkeeper-batter would play a game here and there but a long rope in the side eluded him.

Rohit replaced Kohli as the captain of the team in all formats in February 2022. Samson made it to the T20 World Cup squad earlier this year under the Mumbai batter's leadership but couldn't get a game. The 30-year-old is finally getting consistent opportunities at the top of the order in the shortest format of the game after Suryakumar Yadav replaced Rohit as the captain in T20Is.

He proved his mettle recently by scoring back-to-back centuries in T20I cricket. In the same regard, Vishwanath recently poured his heart out in an interview as he expressed his frustration and disappointment at Sanju Samson having to wait for such a long time to get his fair share of chances. Vishwanath also voiced his displeasure and hit back at Kris Srikkanth after it was reported that the former India opener had downplayed his son's century against Bangladesh, questioning the quality of bowling.

"There are 3-4 people who wasted 10 years of my son's vital career...captains like Dhoni ji, Virat [Kohli] ji, Rohit [Sharma] ji, and coach [Rahul] Dravid ji," Vishwanath said in an interview with a Malayalam news outlet.

"These four people destroyed 10 years of my son's life, but the more they hurt him, the stronger Sanju came out of the crisis," he continued.

"People have been saying he [Srikkanth] was a great player, but I haven't seen it. A century is a century, and Sanju is a player with a classical touch like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. At least respect that!" Samson father's further added.

I want to thank Gautam Gambhir bhai and Suryakumar bhai: Vishwanath

Besides, Vishwanath also did not shy away from expressing his gratitude towards the current India head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, for giving his son opportunities in the T20I team.

Also Read: Something has clicked in the Sanju Samson world, he can play in all formats: AB de Villiers

"I am very happy, and I want to thank Gautam Gambhir bhai and Suryakumar bhai. If these two people did not come at this time, they would have dropped him from the team like in the past," he stated.

The Pulluvila-born has played 16 ODIs and 35 T20Is so far in his career. He averages 56.67 in the 50-over format at a strike rate of 99.61. Meanwhile, in T20Is, he has an average of 25.04 with a strike rate of 151.08.