“GG bhai’s communication was important”: Sanju Samson on Gautam Gambhir’s clarity and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Sanju Samson reflected on his communication with head coach Gautam Gambhir, the team’s decision to back Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in England and Zimbabwe, and the challenge of dealing with outside noise after India’s seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the second T20I in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“Running the Indian team is not an easy task,” Samson told reporters after the end of the second T20I. “You see a 15-year-old boy who has come after scoring 700-800 runs. My tournament was before that. After that, he performed so well and he had to come in some way or another. I did not perform in two or three games, he was in form and we wanted to win games in that series. It was very understandable from a leadership point of view.”
Samson said his own experience as an IPL captain helped him understand the difficult decisions faced by the leadership group.
“I have been in this situation myself. I have also taken many tough calls as a captain in an IPL franchise, so I understand,” he said. “That is where communication comes in. GG (Gautam Gambhir) bhai’s communication was very important. Even during the England series, there was a lot of communication, and before this series too, he came and spoke to me a lot.”
He added that the leadership group had prioritised the team while making such decisions.
“Taking hard decisions is not an easy thing,” Samson added. “Taking a very popular decision is the easiest thing, but as a leadership group, I think we have been taking some really tough calls keeping the team first. That is where we have to give credit to the leadership group of our team.”
Samson also spoke about the outside noise surrounding Indian cricketers and admitted that it can be difficult to completely shut it out.
“I try to turn my Wi-Fi off,” he said with a laugh. “But sometimes the Wi-Fi gets switched on and you see comments, or a senior player says something.
I have been mature enough and experienced enough to know how to handle it. Initially, it does hurt. I am not a machine. We are not robots to say that it does not affect us. It definitely affects you and you get a bit affected, but then you try to talk to yourself and tell yourself who you are and what you need to do.”
Samson said focusing too much on outside opinions could affect the fearless approach expected from him.
“Outside noise definitely affects cricketers in India, but you need to be very clear about what your mindset is, how you need to prepare and what mindset you need to play with. If I focused on those things, I could not bat in this manner,” he quipped.
He also explained how he approaches consistency in a format where the team expects batters to play an aggressive brand of cricket.
“I think consistency in my process, consistency in my preparation, consistency in how I am practising and how I am putting my hard yards in. That is where I try to focus. You cannot control consistency in the result in this format,” the Indian opener said.
Samson said the team’s leadership had given him the freedom to play without fearing failure.
“You cannot say, ‘Let me be consistent in the outcome.’ We have to strike at 200 and hit a six or four off every ball,” he explained. “You cannot think about consistency in the result. Consistency has to be in the frame of mind you have, and then whatever happens, happens. I think that is what a fearless mindset is called.”
India will face Afghanistan in the third and final T20I on September 17, with the series already sealed 2-0.
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