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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPJune 14, 2019Faf du PlessisCardiff, Wales, UK MODERATOR: We are joined by South African captain Faf du Plessis. Questions? Q. Question about Lungi Ngidi. FAF DU PLESSIS: He's got to do some work today and possibly tomorrow as well to make sure that he's 100 percent. I think with all hamstring strains, especially with fast bowlers, it's a tricky one, too, when they're all ready to come back. So that decision will get made probably tomorrow morning. Q. Is this a game where, given the dimensions of the field and the weather, that sort of thing, is this a game where you might consider more pace attack? FAF DU PLESSIS: You mean if Lungi is available, fully available? Q. Even if he's not, you've still got the ability for pace attack? FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, it is something you can think about. I think especially weather, a lot of rain around, as you rightly say, small, straight, big square. The pitch has been under covers. It's a discussion myself and the coaches briefly entertained a little bit. But I think a full game of 50-overs, I think, both our thinking was that Imran is still such a world-class bowler that even with the white ball and even on the small field he's still got the tricks, especially against a team who hasn't faced him before. So probably a full game we would stick to having a spinner on our side. Q. I want to go back to Lungi. If there's a doubt that maybe he's not 100 percent fit, is your thinking maybe you'd rather keep him, especially if this is rain-affected, for later on in the tournament? Or just how conservative do you have to be with him? FAF DU PLESSIS: Tricky one, because we're in a position now where we need to win five games out of five. So you want to have your best guys available for selection. But, yeah, what you're saying is what we thought as well, trying to make sure that if he's not 100 percent or even 90 percent ready for the game, and even if it's going to shorten game or a bit rain around, is it worth the risk. So that is the conversation that we have spoken about. Yes, so probably the right call to make would be to say that if he's not ready, you just give him a little bit more time to see if he can play the next four games, which is going to be big. Obviously playing against bigger nations where Beuran is batting nicely, looks like he batted very well, but that decision will be made tomorrow morning. Q. Given the first week you had where you have three games within a week and now obviously you kind of, 7-overs or one game in 10 days, how frustrating has it been sitting on the sidelines for this time? And then also how the weather over the last week has hampered your preparations? FAF DU PLESSIS: Like we said, week one was not our ideal start. It was a bad start to the tournament. But that's done now. We have to make sure that we try and put all of our energy and focus into the now and what's coming up next. I truly believe if we stay, if we carry those ghosts of the last week with us, then it's going to be tough to get out of the hole. So the conversations the last couple days and especially with all the rain around, it gives me more time to check in with players to make sure that guys are on the right path more than anything else, that they've put that week behind them because you can't be looking back now. If you're looking back, then we're just going to almost like float through this tournament, win maybe one, maybe two, three games, but we're not going to achieve what we want. The fact there's been a bit of rain has given me clarity on the discussions we need to have on the team, and I feel that's been really good off the field. In an ideal world, yes, you'd like more practise. But also a one-night session is not going to make the team play better. I believe it's more the conversations we're having behind just getting, making sure we're strong and knowing exactly what we need to do. The start-off cricket that we need to play, the intensity that we need to play. I felt in that first week our intensity and the way we played was down. And that's not good enough. And that's why our results weren't the way we wanted. Q. Just a word on your opposition, obviously you guys haven't played them in a 50-over game before. How much are you drawing on your experience from the IPL and facing their spinners in particular? FAF DU PLESSIS: Very true. Afghanistan -- I think what's clear in the world of cricket now is that you can't call teams minnows anymore. You can't call them weaker sides because they have the ability and the players in their dressing room to change a game. You need two or three guys in any game to stand up and win you a game. And they've got those players. Obviously Rashid Khan is probably the standout for them in the fact that he's proven in T20 cricket that he's certainly, probably the best leg spinner in the world in T20 cricket. In 50-over cricket, it gives him a bit more time but you also don't have to attack him as much as you do in one-day cricket. So it's really important for us to make sure that the learnings there is from the players that's played against him in the IPL, that we share that knowledge in the dressing room and just make sure we annihilate that threat. If he bowls and he's not getting wickets, then it gives us an opportunity to make sure that we can get some players towards other bowlers. When they come into the game is when he gets on a roll and he gets two or three, or four or five in quick succession, which he has the skills to do. So, it's just about making sure you know when he comes on to bowl what his job is. His job is to get a few wickets and put some pressure on our batting lineup. Q. How different is it to prepare and also play a day/night game? FAF DU PLESSIS: We've played a lot of day/night cricket. You just try to alter your preparation, just get used to the lights, because every place you play day/night cricket the lights feel different. This ground looks like there's a few pockets that are not as bright as the middle. So it goes a little bit darker towards the end of the -- so it was good to have a night practise yesterday to see what was going on. You have to make those quick decisions in the middle as well, because sometimes at night it can be more difficult picking risk. You've got to give yourself a little bit of time making sure you assess what's happening in the bowler's hand. And from there you make your plans and you try and counter as best as possible. Q. You touched on it then, but are you clear in your own mind and the squad as well that you have to win all the remaining games to have a chance to making the last four? FAF DU PLESSIS: That's super clear for us. I think the clarity -- that's what we're trying to achieve is to give the guys real purpose in the next five games that this is -- actually, the opportunity we had where there was a bit of spice for us to make a mistake here and there. Now everyone has written the team off. So there's our backs against the wall as a team. So hopefully that will allow the guys to come out and play the way we want them to play and the way we can play. And I believe if we truly do that play, start of play, we'll be a dangerous team. But we haven't fully unlocked the potential that we do have in our side. Q. You talked about discussions with players this week and while the rain's been around. Are there any specific examples or sporting stories you've been calling on for, like, inspiration? I think a couple IPL teams have won having lost five in a row. Is there anything you've been focusing the guys? FAF DU PLESSIS: No, I keep my secrets to myself. No, honestly it's just been checking in with every guy individually, see where he or she is, and then just making sure that I make it clear to them that there needs to be purpose in what's coming up. You can't just hope for things to change. Hope's a very dangerous thing for me; you either make it happen, the fact that you need to get yourself out of that space as quick as possible. And just finding different keys and different players where I feel that they can lead better in different departments, where they can take more responsibility, where they can take more ownership. So it's about trying to unlock players' best that is lying somewhere underneath them. Hopefully we can see a little bit of that coming out in the next few games. Q. Could you explain what changes from a batting and a bowling point of view when you have such short, straight boundaries? In my very amateur analysis, hit straight, but it's got to be a bit more complicated from bowling and batting? FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, I think from a spinning point of view, guys would generally want to attack straight. That sounds obvious. But that tells you that spinners will probably drag their length, try to drag their length and make you hit square. So if bowlers do bowl like that they actually take a little bit of their weaponary away because they're just short of that perfect length. And then you can score naturally off any spinner. So, there is a pro to it, but there's also a negative to that. And hopefully we can take it to our advantage. And from a seamless point of view, yeah, you want to be making sure that you are making the guys play square. But also there's no point in just bowling short all the time. It's a green surface. The ball might move around. So, with the skill that we have in our seam attack, it's important that we target both, that you use your skill and your consistency almost like a test match and then use the smartness of the field in when you're trying to defend. And that's obviously when square boundaries come into play. Q. Just tagging on to the earlier question about where the team's drawing inspiration from, not many South African captains have dealt with the kinds of situations that you've got now on your team. Is there somewhere that you personally draw inspiration from, captains you've played under or you've seen who have dealt with various tough issues that maybe you take as an example? FAF DU PLESSIS: I try and look at myself first and I try and find ways which is my pillars, my keys to get strong -- and that's my family, my faith, my positive talking, my visualization. Those are things that I draw energy from. And it's important that you spend as much time into things that raises your tank and not spend too much time on things that drain you even more. I start that with myself and then try and find, speak to the guys about what is it that keeps you in that real place where you feel like you're at your best when you're playing cricket, and then trying to unlock that with players. So whether it's a working recipe, I can only relate to myself and try and tap into the other players and see if I can get them where they need to be before they go. Q. Getting back to this ground, this is the venue where you guys last won a cricket match. How much are you drawing on that experience, and does that play into your hands? What experience are you taking from that last game? FAF DU PLESSIS: We did -- the nice thing is we played, we've batted on this wicket. I suppose a positive from playing under the conditions like this is the last time we played here the ball didn't spin much. So that is a weapon that Afghanistan has or have. They've got a very good spin attack. And if you get them on a surface that is a bit slow it does spin a bit. They just as dangerous as West Indies, England, Australia with their bowling attacks because they've got guys that can get wickets all the time. Hopefully that's the same tomorrow. Hopefully the spin doesn't assist too much. And the last time we batted here there were clear things we could take away. The first 10 overs the ball does nip around a bit. And even right through the innings there is elements of that. But if you get in, you can score quickly. As the guys said the boundaries are quite straight. If you have a few options and you do feel like you can counter really well on this ground as well. Q. Your first World Cup as a captain, you've spoken about having to go to players and have conversations over the last two weeks. Would you say that in just your time as a leadership, in the leadership group and the leader of this team, this World Cup has probably pushed you as far you've ever been before? Have you had to go to a place as a leader that you've never been before? FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, that's fair. And I think naturally with everyone, when you speak to the team before coming to a World Cup, you are preparing them for the fact that World Cups, as much as you try to make it just another game of cricket, unfortunately there is a little bit more expectation. There is a little bit more on you as the player. And the same thing is for a captain or a coach. So definitely the start that we've had has made that really, really challenging. And that is something -- it's probably been the biggest challenge. If you look over a career, we haven't had a run of three games on the balance we lose where you feel like it's do or die now. As I said, in series you always have another opportunity to come back. The one series that we find really tough was against India, but I was injured for that series against India in South Africa. So from a challenge, myself as a leader, this has been right up there. But I suppose that's what the last two, three years of captaining this side has prepared me for. Whether it's good situations or bad situations, you try to mature as much as you can as a captain to try and be ready for when it's really, really tough because then the team looks to the leaders in the side. So it's a hard time, but it's also a time that I'm really owning up to the fact that I need to step up and make sure that I lead the team in a time when they need me. Q. I think it was you who said, when discussing selection for the India game, that who your best batsmen were against spin was a large factor in that. Are you thinking the same way here, another side's weapons is mainly the spin? FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, we're trying to find consistency in our personnel that we're trying to -- trying to pick players to give them a run of form where they can score runs and get some consistency. The unfortunate thing of that is no one's really put their hand up to say, here's consistent performances, make sure you pick me. So if we've got seven or eight batters, you try and look at guys that you feel are a little bit in form. That's probably why we've pushed for Aiden more than some of the experience in JP or Dave in some of the games. Aiden has been on really good form himself in one-day cricket the last year. You try to find that little balance of setting up your batting lineup. Hash, as I said after the previous game, he came in and batted really well in those two warm-up games. We found he's got some really good form. And the fact that we haven't had consistent performances from us as a whole batting unit makes it tough to find out who exactly is your best batters on the tournament. So that makes selection a little bit trickier. So I'm hoping that guys can start putting up hands now because in a perfect world you want consistency. You want consistency in your selection and consistency in the guys at your back. But that Indian series was, as you say, was a case for us where we felt pick the guys that have played a lot of IPL cricket, that have faced the spinners in the IPL a lot. And obviously Aiden was left out of that game. And he hasn't faced any of those spinners. But it showed on the same day that even the guys we played them a lot still struggled to play them well. So that's not always a guarantee. Just trying to go with what your gut's telling you is the right thing to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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