SMAT 2025-26 — Playing with Sanju Samson, a blessing: Rohan Kunnummal

Kerala’s record 177-run opening partnership—the highest in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history for the first wicket—was built on an upended master and apprentice relationship between Sanju Samson and Rohan Kunnummal.

Samson shelved his flair and star power, nudged the ball along the ground and unflinchingly assumed the role of a sidekick, allowing his younger partner to hog the limelight. A handful of onlookers wondered whether this was the same Samson who had smashed three T20I hundreds for India, but applauded his firm ground shots that fed Kunnummal the strike.

The 27-year-old Kunnummal made full use of his senior partner’s benevolence to hammer 10 fours and as many sixes against Odisha to become the first Kerala batter to record multiple tons in the format. Though smaller in frame and stature than Samson, Kunnummal isn’t new to registering firsts for Kerala. He was the first batter from his State to raise a Duleep Trophy century during the 2022-23 season, after which he hailed Samson ‘like a god’ for youngsters from Kerala.

More than three years later, Samson’s influence and aura haven’t faded.

“As a junior player to him, it is easy for me to be there with him. He will take all the initiative and guide me. You just have to stay there at the wicket and make sure you are following his instructions. He was guiding me throughout the innings, and he has been guiding me all through the years, from the day I debuted for Kerala. I see it as a blessing to be playing alongside him,” Kunnummal told Sportstar on Wednesday.

Samson instructed Rohan Kunnummal to stick to his natural game.  
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Even as Samson curbed his instincts, he instructed Kunnummal to stick to his natural game.

“Initially, I wasn’t able to time the ball well. I asked Sanju bhai, ‘I think I am not in the zone right now.’ He told me to react to the ball and play to the merit [of the ball]. That backed me throughout the innings. I was trusting my instincts and going with the flow. Everything went my way today,” Kunnummal added.

Kerala coach Amay Khurasiya’s extensive camps, in keeping with his meticulous coaching methods, have reaped dividends for Kunnummal. “We had long camps with Amay sir, our coach. We have never practised this much in my whole career. This season is the most practised year for me. All credit goes to him.”

Falling stocks

Kunnummal was earmarked as Kerala’s batting prodigy after a stellar 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season, during which he cracked three hundreds and a fifty in four innings. However, in the following three Ranji Trophy campaigns, he could only notch up one hundred and failed to convert starts. It was a slump that Kunnummal couldn’t explain.

His downward graph continued in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, with four matches yielding just 162 runs at an average of 27.

“Even I don’t know what happened all these years. I have gotten a good start in the Ranji Trophy. I trust my process. I am playing really well; I am middling [the ball] really well. I have the belief that I will get that one good knock, and I will come back to the prime I had before. Today, I did a part of that. I was so desperate to have a hundred. Every player knows how it feels when he is not scoring as much as he expected,” he revealed.

Kunnummal’s most consistent seasons in First-Class cricket and one-dayers have coincided with astonishingly high strike rates. In his breakout 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season, when he averaged 139, he struck at 89.67. Similarly, his highest strike rate for a Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign—131.84 in 2022-23— was accompanied by an average of 103.5.

A tournament-opening onslaught of 121 from 60 balls at a strike rate of 201.67, with Samson by his side for a few more matches, could be a launchpad for the apprentice’s resurgence.

Published on Nov 27, 2025