Outside noise doesn't matter to me anymore, says Ben Stokes

ABU DHABI: England all-rounder Ben Stokes has stated that he is not affected by the "outside noise" and all he focuses upon is his own performance.

On Sunday, Stokes played a magnificent knock of 107* as Rajasthan Royals chased down a stiff target of 196 with utmost ease against Mumbai Indians and kept their chances of making it to the playoffs alive in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

"Outside noise can affect people in different ways. When I was younger, it affected me. It took me a while to understand that outside noise isn't what matters," Stokes said in a post-match chat with Sanju Samson for iplt20.com.

"It's all about what's within the team and the people who have an influence on you at a certain time in your career," he added.

Before Sunday's game, Stokes was struggling with form as he managed scores of 30, 19, 15, 41 and 5. However, against Mumbai, the 29-year-old was back to his menacing best as alongside Samson, he stitched an unbeaten partnership of 152 to take Rajasthan across the line with 10 balls to spare.

"I found backing from everybody in the (Royals) franchise in the last three years. I know that I haven't delivered on the expectations but having the backing from the people that matter in this franchise is really the thing that I sort of pride everything on. So it was good to return a little bit of faith tonight," said Stokes. IANS

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