ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 15, 2022

Rohit Sharma

Nicholas Pooran

Babar Azam

Richie Berrington

Temba Bavuma

Craig Ervine

Andrew Balbirnie

Shakib Al Hasan

Kardinia Park

Media Day Conference

Q. Richie, a little bit tight in terms of T20 internationals over the last little bit, but seriously good form in the 50 over formats. That combined with the success from 12 months ago must have you guys feeling pretty confident.

RICHIE BERRINGTON: Yeah, definitely. We had a couple good fixtures during the home summer against New Zealand this year, which is really useful obviously to go up against a strong New Zealand team, something we certainly took a lot of learnings from.

And yeah, obviously I think we can take a lot of confidence from the white ball cricket we've played this year, certainly in a strong position in terms of the one-day stuff.

And I think the guys here after last year's World Cup, we're really looking forward to this one, and hopefully we can build on some of the performances we had last year.

Q. Melbourne is sort of a home away from home for Sri Lanka. How about for Scotland?

RICHIE BERRINGTON: Yeah, feels like it. A few of us were there in 2015 and really enjoyed our time there. So yeah, we're looking forward to getting down there and getting started. I believe there's quite a few Scottish fans down that way, so should be good fun.

Q. Nicholas, as the opposition in the first round down there, talk about the weight of expectation for a tournament. Aaron Finch will certainly feel it as captain of Australia, Rohit feels it with 1.6 billion people cheering you guys on. For you, you've missed a few of the legends of the game, it's a new team. How are you handling that expectation?

NICHOLAS POORAN: To be honest, I don't feel like there's a lot of pressure. Honestly, we believe that we are a new group of guys, yes, we are new when it comes to T20 cricket.

But in all fairness, these guys represent the West Indies, and it's only fair that we start at the bottom. I think we have the toughest way to the World Cup, and the guys understand that. I keep telling these guys it may be a blessing in disguise for us to start in the qualifiers first. Obviously everyone knows when you want something you have to work really hard for it.

But yes, we want to qualify, and obviously there's some pressure, as well, but the guys are not thinking about that. We just want to focus on ourselves and try to play the best cricket we can.

Q. Rohit, as a father to a young daughter yourself, what role do you think the 16 captains here today play in inspiring more children to get involved in the sport, especially young girls?

ROHIT SHARMA: Yeah, I think we play a big part in that. I think it's important, all of us are ambassadors in their own way. It's important for us to carry ourselves and lead by example to show the world, especially the kids, because we want our next generation to follow the sport and play the sport at the same time, as well.

It's a wonderful sport, and we all encourage our next generation to come forward and take up the sport. Eventually that's what we want. We want to make the sport as global as we can and reach out to as many countries as possible.

Q. Going into the big game versus Pakistan, how confident are you in the bowling side of India?

ROHIT SHARMA: Injury is part and parcel of the sport. There's nothing much can be done about it.

Q. Craig, I know you weren't here for the one-day series because of injury, but that win Zimbabwe got against Australia last game plus what you've been able to do at home this season, how much confidence does that give you in the squad you've got that you can go well at this tournament?

CRAIG ERVINE: We've obviously had great preparation leading up to this tournament, and I think the performances against Bangladesh at home, some good performances against India, as well, and then obviously beating Australia here in Australia has given us some great momentum going into the tournament.

We also played at Hobart before in 2015 along with Ireland and Scotland (audio interruption).

Q. (No audio.)

ROHIT SHARMA: Babar is absolutely right. We understand the importance of the game, but there's no point just talking about it every time and creating that pressure within yourself.

Q. Temba, obviously very disappointing to lose Dwaine Pretorius to injury in the last couple weeks, but you've got a pretty handy replacement in Marco Jansen. What are your expectations for what he can come in and do?

TEMBA BAVUMA: Yeah, Marco is obviously a big addition for us. He obviously comes in with extra bit of pace. He's a left arm option as well that gives a bit more variety in our bowling attack. He comes at quite a steep length, as well.

Excited to see Marco in the squad. He's been champing at the bit looking for his opportunity, so I guess we're excited to see how much value he can add within the team.

Q. Rohit, as one who was part of the 2007 tournament, the first T20 World Cup, how much different is the game now? How much differently do you approach it, think about it, prepare for it to what you would have done for that first tournament and I suppose as a young player back then?

ROHIT SHARMA: Yeah, I mean, it's been a long time since 2007. When I was picked for that World Cup, I literally didn't go with any expectations about myself nor the team. I just wanted to enjoy the tournament, play the tournament because that was my first ever World Cup, so I had no understanding of what is it like to be part of the World Cup and how big it is going to be until we won the World Cup.

Yeah, and from there until now, it's been a long journey. The game has evolved so much that you can literally see how it's being played now compared to what it was in 2007. 140, 150 was a good score back then, and now people try and get that score in 14, 15 overs.

Yeah, it's just that the teams have become more fearless. They have started to take a lot of risk without worrying about the result, which I think is a good way to play this kind of format.

Yeah, it is something that our team is also trying to do because this is the kind of format where there is risk, but there's literally high rewords, as well.

You've got to be brave enough to take those risks, and certainly we'll be prepared to do that, as well.

I think that's my understanding from 2007 to '22. A lot of things have changed, obviously, but yeah, it's been a good one to see the game evolved in all these years.

Q. Temba, what's your mindset like at the moment given it's been a difficult period for you personally and the team, and how are you trying to turn it around?

TEMBA BAVUMA: To be honest, I think the guys are in good spirits. We've obviously just come from India where we didn't have the best of series, but I think there's still a lot of confidence that we can take throughout our season and the performances that we've put together as a team.

So, I mean, I think it's not all doom and gloom for us. We're excited. We're looking forward to this tournament and how far we can go. Probably not a lot of expectation around us as a team again. So I guess for us we'll be flying under the radar every day, doing the best that we can and preparing as well as we can for all the games and enjoy the journey, as well.

Q. Shakib, you've just been in New Zealand for the Tri-Series coming off of the Asia Cup. A couple changes to your squad. What kind of style of play can we expect from Bangladesh in this World Cup?

SHAKIB AL HASAN: I think we've got a very exciting team, most of us new, so it'll be a great experience for them. All of us are playing T20 for the first time in Australia, including me, so that's new.

But I think we've prepared very well. We are in Christchurch where we played four games against two very good sides, so we know the things that we need to do in order to be able to perform well here in Australia, and I think we have prepared enough to do well.

Q. I didn't realise it was your first game in Australia for T20.

SHAKIB AL HASAN: Yes, and I've been playing for 15 years.

Q. Andrew, you've played over twenty T20 internationals in the last 12 months. That is some fantastic preparation. Do you feel as if the Ireland team is finely tuned and you're happy with the preparation coming in?

ANDREW BALBIRNIE: Yeah, I think so. After last year's disappointment, we kind of had a little bit of a rejig. We had a new coach and a couple of new players come in and a couple of senior players drop out. And we've tried to go out and play a certain way that excites people, and we haven't really got the results we've craved, but we've run some pretty good teams close.

So going into this World Cup, we certainly have a lot of games and experience in the bank, but the games come so thick and fast, particularly in that group, that early stage. So we need to hit the ground running once Monday comes.