When a search for Sanju Samson led to Glenn McGrath, Sunil Gavaskar… and hockey

Three children sat beside the staircase leading up to the Ballroom at the Taj Mahal Palace, each wearing a Sanju Samson jersey and clutching a marker, waiting in hope of an autograph from the cricketer.

The Sportstar Aces Awards had ended, the lights were dimming, and most guests had begun to drift away. But their mother, Christina, lingered in the ballroom lobby well past 11 pm, hoping Friday the 13th might yet bring a small stroke of luck.

Just as the writer began walking up the staircase, Christina approached him with a question: “Is Samson here, or any cricketer we can meet?”

The ceremony had finished nearly half an hour earlier. Samson was not among the guests, and the chances of meeting any cricketer seemed slim.

Yet, as it happened, Australia great Glenn McGrath, India’s ‘Little Master’ and Sportstar Aces jury chair Sunil Gavaskar, and several of India’s former women’s captains were still dining in the lounge nearby.

The writer led the family there.

McGrath and Gavaskar rose from their seats, happily posing for photographs while the Australian obliged the children by signing their India jerseys. Christina stood nearby with folded hands, thanking everyone.

Then her eyes fell on a Sportstar cover placed on the table — Pritam Siwach in an India jersey, stick raised mid-stride on the hockey field.

“Is she here?” Christina asked.

Pritam stood up with a smile to greet her.

Only then did the coincidence reveal itself: Christina Schutze had been a two-time Olympian for Germany (2008 and 2012), earning 126 caps between 2004 and 2012.

For a few minutes, field hockey quietly reclaimed the spotlight. Christina exchanged memories with Pritam, the 1998 Asian Games silver medallist, and M. M. Somaya, the captain of India’s gold-medal-winning team at the 1980 Olympic Games.

Sport — and nights that celebrate it — often create moments that exist beyond trophies and titles.

For Christina and her three children, those few minutes inside the Taj Mahal Palace turned into a memory they would carry back home.

Published on Mar 16, 2026