I switched off my phone, social media, and listened to myself: Sanju Samson

Team India opening batter Sanju Samson has revealed that he switched off his mobile and stood away from social media to listen to himself after the recently concluded New Zealand T20I series at home.

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Notably, Samson, who played all five games of the NZ T20I series, managed to score only 46 runs at an average of 9.20 and a strike rate of 135.29. Interestingly, Ishan Kishan, who had a better series, went on to replace Samson as an opener in the XI in the showpiece event.

Nevertheless, Samson made his way back to the playing XI for the Super8 clash against Zimbabwe, scoring a quickfire knock to set up a good opening partnership. Later, he continued his heroics against the West Indies, scoring an unbeaten 97-run knock to propel India to the semi-finals.

“Shot selection was something I kept working on. I did not want to change too much because I knew I had performed with the same setup, so I kept believing in myself, switched off my phone, switched off social media and listened to my own self. I am very happy it happened in a very special game,” Samson said on Star Sports.

Furthermore, the keeper-batter went on to add that losing wickets from the other side kept the 196-run chase a bit challenging. However, he admitted that he wanted to score more boundaries rather than going for rash and forced aerial shots.

“It was a bit of a difficult chase. Looking at our batting power, I felt that chasing 190-odd at Eden Gardens, when dew comes in, gets a bit easier, but losing wickets at regular intervals made it challenging,” he added.

“To be honest, that’s where my experience and my role played a big part. I got a good start, but when the wickets kept falling, I felt I needed to finish the game and take it till the last moment,” he stated.

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“Normally you feel like doing it, but it doesn’t happen all the time, so I am very grateful it happened in this game...when you are chasing a score like this in a pressure game, you take different options and play more boundaries rather than looking at risk-taking options,” he concluded.

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