India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson acknowledged that external criticism does affect him but said he manages it by maintaining focus on his preparation and team role. He also expressed support for the leadership group’s team-first strategy following India’s seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the second T20 international.
India secured a 2-0 lead in the three-match series with the win and will aim to avoid a clean sweep in the final match on September 17.
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In a post-match press conference, Samson described scoring runs for India as a challenging responsibility, emphasising the need to accept difficult decisions in the interest of the team. He cited the inclusion of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was in excellent form during the Indian Premier League, as an example.
As I said earlier, scoring runs
“As I said earlier, scoring runs for the Indian team isn’t an easy task. You see a young guy (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) coming in after scoring 700-800 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). I had played a tournament prior to that, but then Sooryavanshi performed so well that he had to be brought into the side one way or another. I hadn’t performed in two or three games while he was in great form, and since we wanted to win that series, the decision made perfect sense from a leadership perspective,” he said.
Samson, who scored 57 runs in the match, noted that his IPL captaincy experience helped him understand such decisions and stressed the importance of communication with the leadership group.
“As I mentioned before, I’ve been in this situation myself. I’ve had to make similar tough calls as an IPL franchise captain, so I understand it. That’s where communication plays a crucial role,” he added.
He said he maintained extensive communication with Gautam
He said he maintained extensive communication with Gautam Gambhir during recent series. “Communication with GG (Gautam Gambhir) bhai was very important. We communicated a lot during the England T20I series and even before this current series started; he came and spoke to me extensively. Making tough decisions isn’t easy—taking the popular decision is the easiest thing to do,” Samson said.
“But as a leadership group, we’ve been making some really tough calls by always putting the team first. That is where credit is due to our team’s leadership group,” he added.
Regarding criticism and external distractions, Samson said he tries to avoid them but acknowledged their impact. “I try to turn off the Wi-Fi. But sometimes the Wi-Fi turns on, and comments are visible, and some senior player says something. So I think I have been mature enough and experienced enough to handle it,” he said.
At first, it feels a little bad, man,
“At first, it feels a little bad, man, I’m not a machine actually; we are not robots,” he added.
Samson explained that criticism does affect players but highlighted the importance of self-belief and focusing on preparation. “It’s not that it doesn’t affect me—it definitely does, and you do get somewhat impacted—but then you try to talk to yourself and remind yourself of who you are and what you need to do,” he said.
He credited India’s recent World Cup victory with helping him handle pressure and maintain confidence. “If I focused on those things, I wouldn’t be able to bat the way I do; I’d hesitate ten times before hitting a shot, worrying about getting out and the trouble that might follow. Instead, I told myself, ‘It doesn’t matter; my international career has been good, and I’m very grateful.’ I think the World Cup helped a lot too,” he said.
On India’s batting approach in T20s, Samson stated
On India’s batting approach in T20s, Samson stated that the team has followed a successful strategy over recent years. “We are actually the world champions now, and we have a format and approach which has been very successful. So we are just following it as we were following it for the last 2-3 years. So just watching the ball and just trying to get maximum out in the power play,” he said.
He acknowledged that failure is part of the game but stressed the importance of maintaining confidence and backing their approach. “After a few failures, you definitely go through a lot being an Indian cricketer. It’s not easy to face failures but that’s where my experience comes in. I try to shut out the noise and try to be confident and try to come out and still keep scoring at a high strike rate,” Samson concluded.
Source: thenewsmill.com
