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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

March 12, 2015

Upul Hathurusinghe

HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

Q. What's the feeling like on the team after the victory against England? How much of a sort of confidence has that given the guys?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: The confidence was high, obviously because we have qualified for the quarterfinals. That is one of the first goals that we had. Yeah, the guys are really confident throughout the series, but that gives us a little more freedom to do things.

Q. Will there be any change for tomorrow's match? What about Mashrafe's condition? Will he play tomorrow?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: We haven't selected the team yet, but he's having a bit of a sore throat kind of thing, but we'll take that decision tomorrow.

Q. The previous record against New Zealand, is there anything special for this team?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: What's happening in the past is for me, this is a new game, so we take it game by game. We have certain brands how we want to play against New Zealand and under this condition, so that's what we're focusing on.

Q. Bangladesh never won any game here in New Zealand. Do you think there is a chance tomorrow to get the win?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: I mean, that's not the reason. We are here to win any game no matter who we play against. I don't know how many matches we have played here. I don't know the history, but I'm focusing on this game.

Q. Could you just talk us through what turned around your form against England, particularly the bowling? They seemed to have a lot more energy, particularly with the pace bowlers.
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: I think it's overall we were not afraid to fail. That is the keyword that we spoke about. I think we are paralyzed by failure, we were not pushing ourself. We talked about that throughout this World Cup. So I think for us, it's a freedom to do things and believing in ourselves is the key for not only England game but for every other game. Even when Scotland put up 300, we were still backing ourselves to do things.

Q. You are working with the Bangladesh team last seven or eight matches. Your team is now in quarterfinal. This is the second time in Bangladesh history. Do you think that you're in a really good position?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: I think in this group qualifying for the quarterfinals is a big achievement for Bangladesh team. I mean, at the start we were against two host countries in Sri Lanka and England. So it's a huge task for us to qualify. But only the big thing is that we believed that we can do that, and then we were prepared for one of the big teams to beat one of the big teams to get here.

Q. In the past this ground has been a ground where spin bowlers have found success. How significant and how important is the spin component within your side to your overall game?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: You're talking about this match or for the World Cup?

Q. Yeah, this particular match and generally in the World Cup, because you used spinners in the last game quite extensively, didn't you, against England?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: We are always looking to play to our strength, as well as if we can exploit our opponents weakness is one thing we look at secondly. But looking at this pitch, I don't think it's been played much part because the wicket is a little more harder and a lot more grass on it. Saying that, we will still stick to our strength.

Q. Before leaving Dakar, you say that your target is to qualify quarterfinals and that you've achieved the target. Are you setting any new target here?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: If you can remember I said after that that I'll focus on the other game. So we're still focusing on New Zealand, and then we'll focus on the next game in the quarterfinals. So I'd still believe that we can do that things that we haven't done before.

Q. Having won five games out of five, how dangerous is the New Zealand team?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: I think they're one of the form teams in the competition, especially they beat a lot of the strong teams like Australia, Sri Lanka and England very convincingly, and they are playing in their own backward, and they have all the bases covered. So it's a huge task for us to compete against them. I think they're one of the formal teams in the competition.

Q. What would the -- the best result would obviously be a win. What do you want your team not to do tomorrow against New Zealand because then there is a big game coming up?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: We don't talk about what not to do. We only talk about what we need to do.

Q. Talking about what to do. Obviously, New Zealand have bowled out every side they've played against so far. So I suppose with the batting, is the first thing to try to bat your overs?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: Before we know their strength. They've got a really good bowling attack. If we can get a good start, that is key for us. So we need to find the key moment in the game. That is one thing that you mentioned. We are aware of that, so that's one thing that we really focus on as well.

Q. You spoke about the huge task that your team has tomorrow against New Zealand, but also about the key to success against England being playing without fear. How do you balance that when your bowlers are up against a batsman like Brendon McCullum, for example, who has shown us he goes very hard from the first ball?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: It's difficult because he's doing the same thing. He's playing without fear. But, again, we play to our strength, and we have a few game plans that if we can execute like that the plans that we have, it's key to win this game. He's one of the key players we need to get out early.

Q. We heard from your bowling coach who suggested that you have plans specifically for McCullum and Williamson. Without giving the game away, have you seen some weaknesses there that you can exploit?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: We always play differently. That is one thing that we talked about at the start. We don't stick to the same plan. We are not afraid to rethink our game plan and our combination as well. Our batting and my bowling coach, we have some ideas, but, again, the goal is to go ahead and execute.

Q. Bangladesh beat New Zealand -- last seven match Bangladesh beat New Zealand in different conditions. Do you feel (Indiscernible) for tomorrow's match?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: You said it's different conditions. I think it's an advantage if you play back home, but here it's even clear, so they're the form team. We have to play our best to beat them.

Q. Is there any challenge getting up for this match? Because New Zealand have already secured top spot in the pool. You have achieved what I think you said was your goal of reaching the quarterfinals. Is there anything about this match that is difficult to get up for?
UPUL HATHURUSINGHE: Not at all. Playing for your country and playing a World Cup is enough for them to get up early morning and come prepared to do well. I think that is the key for these guys. If you see how they prepare today, how they practiced today, I think it's amazing. I don't know. They never seem to get tired of training and training hard and getting prepared for the game.
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