Star India opener Sanju Samson revealed that he switched off his phone and stayed away from social media during a lean patch to protect his self-belief, a decision that paid off in India’s must-win T20 World Cup clash against the West Indies.
Samson smashed an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, hitting 12 fours and four sixes, to guide India to a five-wicket win in their Super Eight match at Eden Gardens on Sunday. Chasing 196 after a heavy loss to South Africa in their Super Eight opener, India needed a response. Samson provided it.
Reinstated at the top of the order to address the left-handed monotony in India’s struggling batting line-up, the 31-year-old justified the move with an innings built on clarity and control.
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“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,” Samson told Star Sports after the win.
“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.”
ANCHORING THE CHASE
The pursuit of 196 was not straightforward despite dew settling in later in the evening. India lost wickets at regular intervals. Captain Suryakumar Yadav made 18 while Tilak Varma contributed 27, but Samson remained the central figure in the chase.
“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 said.
“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.”
Instead of forcing high-risk strokes, Samson relied on percentage cricket, choosing his moments to attack.
“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 added.
BACKING HIS METHOD
Samson also addressed his underwhelming run prior to the World Cup, including the home series against New Zealand, and explained how he used a brief break to reassess his approach.
“Our human nature is that we often start from a negative thought like, ‘Can I do it? I don’t think I can.’ When I have that thought, I try to alter it with a very positive one,” he said.
“When I had a series like New Zealand where I wanted to perform and be part of the World Cup team, things did not work out well, but luckily I got a 10-day gap.”
During that period, he returned to basics rather than making drastic changes.
“I did not play any games and was not in the side. I kept thinking, ‘Sanju, what else? Why didn’t it work? What else should I do?’ So I did some soul-searching. I worked on my base, how I set myself up, and came back to it.
“A lot of people had suggestions and I saw a lot of valid points, but at the same time I felt, ‘Sanju, you have scored three international hundreds with the same setup.'”
A DREAM REALISED
Reflecting on the knock, Samson said it was a moment he had always envisioned.
“More than a hundred cricketers in India dream about a day like this. I dared to dream. A young guy from Trivandrum, Kerala, dreaming about playing for the country and winning a game in such a crucial match. I dared to dream and it happened,” he said.
In a high-pressure contest at Eden Gardens, Samson shut out the noise, trusted his method and delivered when India needed him most.
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