I am not a machine: Samson opens up on criticism, outside noise and Vaibhav
India opener Sanju Samson on Tuesday admitted criticism and outside noise do affect him but experience has taught him to deal with it, while backing the leadership group for taking tough selection calls keeping the team's interests in mind.
Samson, who smashed a brutal 57 off 22 balls in India's seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the second T20I here, said he has learnt to switch off from the chatter surrounding his game.
"I try to turn off the Wi-Fi. But sometimes the Wi-Fi gets (turned) on and I see some comments," he told reporters after the match.
"Some senior players say something and some don't. It is very normal. I think it is their choice. Sometimes it is their frame of mind, what words to use. It is totally up to them. They can use the positive frame of sentences, or they can use the negative frame of sentences. I think I have been mature enough and experienced enough how to handle it.
"I feel a little bad. I am not a machine. I am not a robot. You kind of get a bit affected. But then you try to talk to yourself and tell them what you are and what you need to do."
The wicketkeeper-batter said the scrutiny surrounding Indian cricketers can be difficult to escape but stressed the importance of maintaining clarity about one's approach.
"Yes, outside noise does affect the cricketers in India. But you need to be very clear about your mindset. How do you want to prepare? How do you want to play? If I had paid attention to those things, I wouldn't have been able to bat like this.
"I would have thought 10 times before hitting the ball. If it goes out, then again there will be a Wi-Fi problem. It doesn't matter."
There is a lot of pressure on Samson with 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breathing down his neck for the opening slot.
"Running an Indian team is not an easy thing. You see, a 15-year-old boy has scored 700-800 runs," Samson said.
"Before the tournament, he had performed so well. He had to come in, some or the other manner. I think I had not performed in two or three games.
"He was in form and he wanted to win games in that series. It was very understandable from a leadership kind of a thing. I think as I told before, I have been in this situation. I have also taken a lot of tough calls as a captain, so I understand. That's where the communication comes in."
Samson said communication within the group had been important in navigating those decisions.
"Like I said earlier, communication was very important. Even now, there was a lot of communication in the middle of the series. Even before this series, he (head coach Gautam Gambhir) talked to me a lot.
"So it is not easy to take hard decisions. It is very easy to take very popular decisions. But I think as a leadership group, we have been taking some really tough calls, keeping the team in front. That's where we have to give the credit to the leadership group," he added.
