New Delhi [India], September 16 : India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson admitted that outside noise does affect him but said he has learned to manage the noise by staying focused on his preparation and role in the team, while backing the leadership group's team-first approach after India's clinical win over Afghanistan in the second T20I.
India registered a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan to seal the three-match series with a 2-0 lead. The Men in Blue will now look to avoid a clean sweep in the final match, while India will aim to complete a series whitewash on September 17.
Speaking during the post-match press conference on Tuesday, Samson said scoring runs for India is a challenging task and explained that players have to accept difficult decisions when the team's interests are prioritised.
"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," Samson said.
The right-handed batter, who slammed a 57 runs, said his own experience as an IPL captain helped him understand such decisions and highlighted the importance of communication between players and 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.
Samson said he had several discussions with Gambhir during the England T20I series and before the current series, adding that leadership often requires taking difficult decisions instead of popular ones.
"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.
On dealing with criticism and outside noise, Samson said he tries to stay away from distractions but admitted that comments can affect players.
"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, I'm not a machine actually; we are not robots," Samson added.
The Indian batter said criticism does impact cricketers but stressed the importance of staying focused on preparation and self-belief.
"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.
Samson also credited India's World Cup triumph for helping him deal with pressure and continue playing with 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.
Speaking about India's aggressive T20 batting approach, Samson said the team has followed a successful template over the last few 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," Samson said.
He added that failures are part of the game and players must continue to back 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.