ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 6, 2021

David Warner

Sheikh Zayed Stadium

Australia

Post Match Media Conference

Australia 161/2 (16.2) - West Indies 157/7 (20)

Q. How is Pakistan?

DAVID WARNER: Just another game of cricket. We didn't feel pressure at all. At the end of the day they are playing well. We are playing well. And yeah, the best team will win on the day.

Q. Are you guys cheering for England so you qualify for the semifinals?

DAVID WARNER: Obviously there's a task ahead for South Africa, and yeah, we'll be watching with interest, and yeah, we'll find out who we are going to be playing next game, if England do win, obviously we are through. We know we are going to be facing Pakistan which is going to be a good challenge.

Q. Good to see you back in form. When you are playing any game, do you keep looking at the net run rate whenever you are playing?

DAVID WARNER: No. I go out there and try and face the ball that's being delivered. That's my job. If I go out there worried about net run rate, that's not in the back of my mind at all.

Q. As I said when I was there in person in the press conference room, I said you are not out of form. It's great to see you back scoring big runs. My question is what the sort of mentality of an Australian team that comes into a World Cup, even before the World Cup you were not in a great touch of form but as soon as you entered the tournament, you changed into something of a monstrous role. You guys are playing great cricket. What is the sort of mentality that comes to your mind or the squad when it comes to World Cup events?

DAVID WARNER: Look, I won't say the team was out of form. I think you have to look back and look at the wickets that they played on. To be fair, New Zealand went to Bangladesh and played on those kind of wickets. And it's very difficult where teams are not getting more than a hundred for both teams, it's going to be a challenge for anyone.

So for us, we come out here, the wickets that have been produced here have an outstanding and the curators have done an amazing job over the last 14 weeks to host IPL and this World Cup. We are obviously seeing a very nice batting wicket that was out there today, and I think after last game as well, playing in Dubai, the wickets are becoming very, very nice and very true.

I think all in all, I think we are hitting the momentum in the right stage of this tournament. As the gentleman here said, he said that Pakistan are like dragons; they are going really well. But at the end of the day, you know, you've got to stay up and about, and that's what we are going to be trying to do, obviously if we make it through watching closely this game tonight.

Q. You talk about momentum. Do you think Australia is peaking at the right time? Have you reached the peak yet?

DAVID WARNER: I think you always try to look to try to play the complete game. You look at today and Josh got I think 4-for-40 out of his four overs, and in this format, you can take those wickets and still go out 10 and over. Sometimes in the mindset when you come up against a team like the West Indies, they are going to get you in the first six. They are not afraid to play their shots throughout. We, I would say as a bowling group, they have to try to execute their plans which they try to do as best they can. We know even if you take early wickets against the West Indies, they are going to keep coming hard.

In the last five overs is where they put on a lot of runs, especially with Pollard and Bravo towards the end. They did an exceptional job to get to a total today. For us I think 160 was a par score, it was a very nice wicket and with the bat, yeah, you could say that we are on a nice wicket there tonight, so it was actually great to get some momentum and get the ball on to the bat and play nice strokes. You didn't have to take too many risks.

And, yeah, moving forward, hopefully to Dubai, it's a very similar surface as well. We see a lot of teams that bat first there find it very difficult to put a competitive total on board but now with the semifinals and finals potentially there, hopefully we can perform as well as we can if we lose that toss.

Q. Just on Mitch Marsh, you've played a lot of cricket with him, what are you seeing from him, and there's been a lot of talk that he's improved against spin particularly. Have you noticed that?

DAVID WARNER: I'm seeing a very clear-mind cricketer. He's coming out playing his natural game. He's training the house down. He's in peak performance, fitness. He's worked really, really hard. He's obviously come in at a young age early on and a lot of people were knocking him.

It's not our fault that sometimes you get selected in teams and you try your best every time, but there's certain times now where a lot of those players that have been around for a while are peaking and are finding their straps and playing with clear minds, and that's exactly what he's been doing. His form is outstanding and he's hitting the ball as well as anyone on this team and you can see it on the field, and it's fantastic and I'm really pumped for him and it's great for our team.

Q. Can you just talk us through, taking you back to that England game, a lot of other side might struggle to build back confidence and momentum after that. What was the chat like and did you get sort of a pretty clear idea straightaway that the team would bounce back in this sort of fashion?

DAVID WARNER: Yeah, look, obviously very toss-dependent game with that wicket. They bowl extremely well, and know that they come hard in that power play and they have always had great success. From our point of view, it's good to get one of those games out of the way because sometimes it happens in tournament play.

Sometimes you do get hurt and you get hurt badly. And that's what happened to us. For us, it's going and just doing what we normally do. You have to forget very fast about that, keep backing your game plan and putting your best foot forward and we have done that. We have a great bunch of guys here and every time we are back at the hotel or we have got some free time, the boys are gelling very well. We are in each other's rooms out on the driving range, playing golf, playing PlayStation. Doing just the normal things that take your mind away from cricket and it's been great.

Q. On Bravo and Chris Gayle, how highly do you regard them as cricketers in the grand scheme of things?

DAVID WARNER: They are just pure entertainers. Obviously their cricket class there and the stats speak for themselves. I think Chris has obviously changed game for all opening batsmen around the world in all three formats. One, he has a lot of size on his size, and he has a lot of power on his side, so he's able to pick up three-pound bats which we can't.

But the way they came out from his career from the get-go, just put fear in the back of the bowlers minds and he was able to intimidate, and he's had a great career. I respect that immensely, and I'm just proud to watch him and be a part of a team as well. I managed to play with him, which is great. Awesome competitor and great entertainer.

DJ is obviously a great competitor, world-class cricketer. You don't play 18 years by fluke by any means, and to have a career like those two gentlemen have, they deserve a massive applause, and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors, and look out on their social media, because they are great characters and entertainers and I love it.