‘I switch off the WiFi’: Sanju Samson opens up on dealing with criticism

Sanju Samson has a simple way of dealing with criticism.

Switch off the WiFi.

“I try to switch off the WiFi,” Samson joked after smashing 57 from just 22 balls against Afghanistan.

But behind the joke, there was a very honest admission.

Sometimes the WiFi comes back on.

Samson admitted that he sees comments and hears what senior players are saying about him.

And yes, it affects him.

“I am not a machine. We are not robots,” Samson said, admitting that initially it does feel bad.

But experience has taught the 31 year old how to deal with it.

Sanju said he reminds himself who he is and what he needs to do, because carrying that outside noise onto the field would make it impossible to play with freedom.

“If I paid attention to those things, I wouldn't be able to bat like this,” he said, joking that otherwise he would think ten times before playing a shot because getting out would create another “WiFi problem”.

Samson certainly did not hold back against Afghanistan.

After scores of 5, 0, 1, 27 and 10 in his previous five T20Is, he smashed 57 from 22 balls as India chased 160 in just 14.5 overs to win by seven wickets and seal the series with a game to spare.

The innings showed what Samson can do with the bat.

But his words afterwards were also a reminder that behind the runs, failures and criticism, players feel the noise too.

Sometimes, they just need to switch off the WiFi. But more than that you need to be a mentality monster to survive under pressure.