5th T20I: Stay grounded, keep playing fearless cricket, says Samson on carrying WC form forward

Bengaluru, Oct 17 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson on Saturday said the confidence he gained from his World Cup performances had helped him understand his own game better, adding that he now wishes to be grounded and continue playing fearless cricket.

Samson was the Player of the Tournament in this year’s T20 World Cup triumph, and though his form has been up and down in recent times, the Indian team has persisted with him in the shortest format.

“It definitely gives you a lot of confidence. After that, you start understanding your own patterns. You focus on your process, reduce the outside noise, and figure out your own way of creating the best environment in your mind to go out there and perform.

“Sometimes you score runs, and sometimes you don’t. So, I try to understand that, stay grounded, and continue playing fearless cricket,” Samson said to former India teammate Yuzvendra Chahal in the Hindi broadcast feed, as rain held up the start of the fifth and final T20I against the West Indies at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

Asked what goes through a player’s mind when the rain refuses to relent, Samson had a light-hearted message for Chahal. “We’re missing someone like you (Chahal) in the dressing room! Someone who can keep the atmosphere light.

“When it’s raining, there’s not much point in thinking too much about cricket at that moment. (Ravi) Bishnoi and Arshdeep (Singh) are keeping themselves occupied, so you know how things go in the dressing room.”

Looking ahead to the five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on October 22, Samson said a packed calendar left little room for preparation, and that experience would have to make up for it.

“To be very honest, with the way the schedule is structured these days, you don’t get much time to practice or prepare. That’s where your experience comes in. You try to stay in a good mental space and make the most of whatever time you get.

“We have just one day of batting practice. We’ll reach there on the 20th, practice on the 21st, and play the match on the 22nd. So, we’ll try to carry forward the good things we’ve done here.

“It takes a little time to adjust to the conditions there, so we’ll take two or three balls to assess them. We’ll follow the things we’ve learned through experience and play while respecting the conditions,” he concluded.

–IANS

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