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We settled into the New Kamatchi mess in Chengalpattu, known as the Gateway of Chennai. This is a typical military mess that serves the best of non-vegetarian cuisines, making finger licking good seem ordinary. As we settled in, Ananth and Solo – my friends – started scanning the menu and engaging with the steward to place the orders carefully. Should it be a mutton chukka or the fish that the chap is recommending? Or does one just stay with the safe chicken tikka?
In the corner, the television flashed the images of the live IPL match, and I had one eye on that as well. I knew that my friends were not really avid followers of the Indian Premier League. Chennai Super Kings had beaten Delhi Capitals comprehensively the previous evening. As Burns joined us, Ananth asked “Chetta netru evvalavu kol atittar?” (How many runs did Chetta score yesterday?) …. Even as I took a few seconds to figure out what he was referring to, Solo instantly answered that Chetta scored 87 runs and got the team to victory. Everyone around the table shook their heads in typical Chennai style and got down to devouring the super tasty meal. CSK were in safe hands!
Dhoni has altered the emotional temperature of a dressing room, a stadium and often an entire nation. Samson, in a quieter and less decorated way, carries traces of the same emotional architecture. Both developed an unusual detachment from noise. Dhoni could sit through a collapse without visible panic. Samson can play through public debate about inconsistency without appearing burdened by it. In an age where athletes often perform emotion as much as sport, both men almost underplay themselves. Their body language rarely seeks theatre. That restraint becomes magnetic.
Dhoni mastered the art of extending games deep enough to regain control. Samson, at his best, does something similar with batting rhythm. He slows a chase down just enough to remove panic and then accelerates without visible strain. That ability to manipulate tempo rather than merely attack is rare.
Dhoni’s finishing during his prime looked inevitable rather than flashy. Samson’s batting carries a similar elegance. The shots are clean, economical and strangely unhurried. Neither appears desperate to prove their genius every ball. That economy of movement creates an illusion that cricket is simpler than it actually is. I sat there wondering if the folks here had alredy accepted Chetta as the natural heir to their franchise.
As the meal wound down and the plates began to clear, the steward arrived with the final ritual of the evening, the goli sodas. And here too, Chennai and perhaps Tamil Nadu itself revealed another layer of its personality. One expected the standard lime soda, the dependable old companion of spicy meals and humid evenings. Instead, the table filled up with bottles carrying flavours that seemed almost delightfully out of place in a traditional military mess. Blueberry. Pineapple Punch. Green Apple. One even ordered something neon orange that looked more chemistry experiment than beverage.
The old marble inside the bottle still snapped open with that familiar pop, but what came after was unexpectedly modern, playful and experimental. Solo insisted that pineapple punch was now the “correct” flavour for biryani. Burns argued for blueberry with the seriousness of a wine critic. Ananth simply laughed and said, “Tamil Nadu likes simplicity… but not boredom.”
And perhaps that is the perfect way to understand both this region and why someone like Sanju Samson feels so naturally embraced here. Because beneath the outward simplicity lies a deep appreciation for nuance, elegance and subtle individuality. The people here admire restraint, but they are not immune to flair. They value humility, but they also celebrate craft. Much like the goli soda that still carries the old-world bottle while experimenting with unexpected flavours, Samson too represents something similar in Indian cricket. Classical at the core, contemporary in expression!
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