Sanju Samson issued show-cause notice by Kerala Cricket Association

The Kerala Cricket Association has decided to serve a show-cause notice to Sanju Samson for alleged acts of misbehaviour during the current Ranji season. A four-member committee has been constituted to inquire into the breaches of discipline committed by Sanju during the ongoing season and is likely to serve him the show-cause notice on Thursday itself.

Samson, who started the season on a great note, scoring 154 against Jammu and Kashmir has been enduring a poor run of form since – managing just 180 runs in his next 10 innings. It’s alleged that Sanju broke his bat in a fit of rage on returning to the team hotel, after scoring a second innings duck in the match against Goa at Mumbai last month.

He was also found missing for six hours and skipped team meetings during the game, claimed KCA Secretary Ananthanarayan, who confirmed the latest developments. Despite this unauthorised absence and a few other disciplinary issues with the cricketer on a couple of occasions earlier in the season and his waning form, the KCA had taken a lenient stand towards Samson.

The 22-year-old is viewed as the state’s brightest prospect for donning the national colours in the future, but things turned for the worse after the cricketer's father's alleged 'abusive' phone call to the president, TC Mathew.

It has to be noted that Sanju is not part of Kerala's playing XI in the ongoing Ranji Trophy game against Tripura in Cuttack. The team management had decided not to include the 22-year-old wicketkeeper batsman for the game against Tripura after scores of 0 and 7 in their previous encounter against Andhra.

On his non-selection, the youngster’s request for a release from the squad to tend to an injured knee and undergo a rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru was turned down by the KCA and he was asked to stay back with the team in Cuttack. This seems to have led to the alleged altercations between the cricketer’s father and the KCA President.

"It's true that I rang up Mathew. But there is no truth in the allegation that I abused him. Why should I abuse the KCA president who has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the game? I won't play with my child's future. I don't know from where such baseless stories emanate," Samson told TOI from Thiruvananthapuram.

The Kerala cricketer is a regular in the squads under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid – being a member of the India A side and the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils IPL franchises mentored by the legendary cricketer - and has played one T20 international for India. In 37 first class games, he has scored 1975 runs at an average of 35.26, scoring 7 centuries, including a career-best 211.