NEW DELHI: Closing the hotel room door, switching off the phone and trying to sleep are ways to "shut out the noise" before a crunch game - but Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav knows it is often "easier said than done" as he prepared for another high-voltage Asia Cup clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

The affable captain, who anchored India's chase with an unbeaten 47 in last Sunday's game against the same rivals, had drawn attention for more than just his batting. On that day, he neither shook hands with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha at the toss nor after sealing the match with a six.

His gesture of solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam attack, and his dedication of the victory to the Indian Armed Forces, had already triggered a cross-border stir in the lead-up to this Super 4s encounter.

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.

However, he knows that outside noise can't be shut in its entirety and some good things can be picked using one's discretion.

"...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."

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?.

It was an obvious reference to the 'No Handshake' policy but the veteran of 100 press meets and tricky questions knew how to handle that.

"By other things, you mean we bowled well, isn't it?" he said with a wry smile which never left his face.

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."

(With PTI Inputs)