Sanju reveals how digital detox helped him rediscover his form

After almost single-handedly guiding India to the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal, Sanju Samson revealed that he decided to cut the outside noise by staying away from social media to safeguard his self-belief during a difficult run of form. His decision paid rich dividends at the Eden Gardens on Sunday when the Kerala stumper’s unbeaten 97 helped India chase down 196 to knock the West Indies out of the tournament.

Samson struck 12 fours and four sixes in his fluent 50-ball knock to guide India to the five-wicket triumph, helping the defending champions set up a semi-final against England in Mumbai on Thursday.

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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, so 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,” Samson told Star Sports after the match.

The opener admitted that self-doubt crept in when runs dried up in the build-up to the global event. “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.

“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. I did not play any games and was not in the team. 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.’”

Recalled to open the batting to break the left-handed monotony at the top, Samson anchored the chase almost single-handedly as wickets fell regularly at the other end at Eden Gardens.

“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. 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. Normally you feel like doing it, but it doesn’t happen all the time, so I am very grateful it happened in this game.

“When you are batting first, you want to set up a big score and hit a lot of sixes, but 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. The ball was coming on nicely, they were bowling with good pace, so I kept timing it and it came well,” he added.

Reflecting on what the unbeaten 97 meant to him personally, Samson said: “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.”