Sanju Samson announces scholarships for 1,000 UPSC aspirants

India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson announced scholarships for 1,000 UPSC Civil Services aspirants on September 10, 2026. The initiative was unveiled at the Lead India Summit held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The programme has been launched by the Sanju Samson Foundation in association with Lead IAS Academy. A special focus has been placed on students from Vizhinjam, Samson's hometown, and the neighbouring coastal areas of Kerala.

"Despite needing to be at practice at 6am, I have overslept till 7. I have made mistakes. Making mistakes isn’t the problem. Repeating the same thing over and over again is. To err is human, but what’s in our hands is how many times we repeat. You need to be honest with yourself," Samson was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

"It’s very human to relax, it’s very human to be distracted but it’s important to come back soon. When you’re falling down, you feel you need to grow. The starting point is always accepting that you’re down," he added.

He credited Rahul Dravid for his role in his career and in dealing with setbacks well, underlining the need for high-quality mentors in one’s journey.

“It’s important to have good people around you. It might be your friends, parents or mentors. I’ve been lucky to have the greatest mentor a cricketer could dream of. Rahul sir, Sachin sir and now Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) at Chennai Super Kings. My dad was my mentor growing up," Samson said further.

What does the scholarship programme offer aspirants?

The scholarship programme goes beyond standard academic preparation. It combines structured coaching with personalised mentorship and training in communication, personality development, critical thinking and leadership.

Lead IAS Academy is guided by a panel of former civil servants. These include Rishiraj Singh, an IPS officer and former DGP Kerala; V.V. Lakshmi Narayana, an IPS officer and former Joint Director of the CBI; Anil Swarup, an IAS officer and former Secretary of the Department of School Education; and T.P. Sreenivasan, an IFS officer and former Ambassador.

Samson further recalled the pressure of performing in front of home crowds.

"I have stepped out in Trivandrum to bat with the crowds shouting, 'Sanju, we want 100'."

He used this as an example of how external expectations can test one's mental composure, a lesson he said applies equally to civil services preparation.

How did Samson's mentors shape his outlook on growth?

Samson underlined the value of quality mentorship in navigating difficult phases of a career. He credited former India head coach Rahul Dravid as a defining influence in how he handled setbacks and continued to develop as a cricketer.

Samson elaborated on how Dravid's guidance answered a question that had long troubled him. He said,

"After so much practice, why am I not able to score - I got the answer to this question from Rahul Dravid for which I am very blessed. If that answer didn’t have his quality, I don’t think it would have aided my growth like it eventually did. When you have doubts or questions, it’s important to have a good mentor or guru around so the answers will lift you up," he said.

By drawing on his own experience of mentorship, Samson positioned the Lead IAS Academy partnership as an effort to extend that same quality of guidance to students from coastal Kerala who aspire to join the civil services.