India, July 5 -- The Delhi & District Cricket Association has long carried the reputation of "crushing dreams" of deserving talents and they almost did that with Sanju Samson before his father, an erstwhile cop with Delhi Police, decided to shift base to his home state Kerala. The rest, as they say, is history.

The exceptionally gifted Samson, by sheer weight of his white-ball runs, made it to the Indian T20 team and earlier this year was the biggest hero of the T20 World Cup triumph.

However, Samson mentioned how the heartbreak in Delhi became a turning point for him and his family. "Back in school, I used to see friends wear the DDCA jacket and talk about playing for the state cricket team of Delhi. That motivated me," Samson told 'Ji...