'Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep. I think that's the best thing.'
Closing the hotel room door, switching off the cell phone and going off to sleep are good to "shut outside noise" before a crunch game but Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav knows that some things are "easier said than done".
As India gear up for another high-voltage Asia Cup battle against Pakistan on Sunday, Suryakumar spoke of ways the team is implementing to keep out outside noise.
The amiable captain, who anchored the team's successful chase with a 47 not out last Sunday against the same rivals, neither shook hands with opposition skipper Salman Ali Agha at the toss nor at the end of the game after finishing it off with a sixer that day.
His gesture of standing in solidarity with victims of the Pahalgam attack and dedicating the win to the Indian Armed Forces had caused the cross-border neighbours to go into a meltdown ahead of this Asia Cup Super 4s clash.
So what's the process of shutting outside noise?
"Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep. I think that's the best thing. It's easy to say, but sometimes it is difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner and you have a lot of players who like to see all these things so it's very difficult," the straight-talking Mumbaikar said on the eve of another tense game.
"...it's on you what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind and go on and have a practice session or go on and have a game."
Amid all this, the focus needs to be on the game.
"I have been very clear with all the boys, I think it's very important if we want to do well this tournament, and going forward, we will have to shut a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you.
"I am not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you and someone can give you a good advice as well which can help you in the game and on the ground."
When an Indian journalist cheekily asked, "Surya you guys batted well and also did a lot of other things well in the last game. So do you want to continue doing that?, referencing to the 'No Handshake' policy, the veteran of 100 press meets and tricky questions answered with guile and a wry smile: "By other things, you mean we bowled well, isn't it?"
On the preparation for the match, he felt that the team is well settled after three games.
"I feel our preparations have been really good leading into the tournament and we had three good games also. So we are actually focusing on what we can do best."
Surya feels that toss won't give any extra edge considering the hot and humid conditions.
"We will have to start well from scratch and whoever plays well will win the game."
When asked if India-Pakistan contests are turning out to be lopsided in terms of cricketing quality, he said that for him, all what matters is to go out and entertain a packed stadium.
"At that time, I don't know, I have never played (laughs), so I can't say, but if we talk about rivalry, I don't know what rivalry you are talking about.
"I just feel that the stadium is full and when the stadium is full, I tell my team and everyone that it's time for entertainment and people have come to watch the match, so you have to entertain and entertain everyone, let's play some good brand of cricket."
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