Fakhar Zaman and Kane Williamson post-match press conference, New Zealand vs Pakistan, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023

Pakistan player Fakhar Zaman and New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson post-match press conference, New Zealand vs Pakistan, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

Pakistan player Fakhar Zaman

New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson

Pakistan player Fakhar Zaman post-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] From the toss to the end, we also saw that you got a message/chit – probably it was about the DLS calculation. So how important was the planning in this match, particularly the rain. How much had you'll thought about all this?

[Fakhar Zaman:] Like I said before, we had thought that it will rain and planned accordingly. We sent a message to the management after 15 overs, that it is drizzling, so tell us how many overs – because we knew that before 20 overs the Duckworth Lewis Stern [DLS] Method is not applicable, so we asked them what target we need to achieve in 20 overs.

Of course, planning is very important at that stage, playing without planning is very difficult. We had planned yesterday also and even today we played over by over.

[Reporter:] There was a time when there was some struggle during the match. Can you tell us at that time what did you discuss with the coach? What conversation were you having with the coach? Not today – during this World Cup, when you were on the sidelines – what did you discuss with the coach?

[Fakhar Zaman:] At this level when you plan international cricket, there are always ups and downs. At that time, I was working hard on my fitness also, because I was suffering from an injury.

Even during the Asia Cup, I had scored highest 30 runs, it was not a good time for me.

I went to my fielding coach’s academy in Peshawar, he was also an off spinner in his time. He worked a lot on me. Even here I spent a lot of time with my batting coach.

Everyone works hard, today I was lucky that because of my performance the team has won.

[Reporter:] When you were on the wicket and Abdullah got out on 4 runs, Pakistan lost its first wicket and Babar came in, what did you plan because at that time Pakistan was under pressure. How did you change the momentum of the game. How did you plan. Was Babar guiding you or were you playing on your own?

[Fakhar Zaman:] See, when we openers go out to play, we understand how the wicket is playing. When Abdullah played the first over, I asked him, and then I played the second over – so we decided that the wicket is very good for batting. We have to survive the first 4 overs.

Abdullah got out but I knew that the wicket is very good, so as soon as Babar came out, I told him that the wicket is not swinging and if we maintain a good partnership, it will be very easy for us later.

We understood very early on that the wicket is good and we can chase the score of 400.

[Reporter:] You spoke about how during the Asia Cup you were out of form and how you worked hard in Peshawar.

After starting the World Cup, after the first match you suffered an injury. Tell us about that time, how difficult was it for you and how was your mindset when you come to the World Cup with such high expectations and then suffer an injury. The process to come back again – tell us about that.

[Fakhar Zaman:] See whenever someone performs or plays a big innings, he says that he did this, he did that – but definitely when I got time off, I didn’t rest. I was home for 2 days and then went to Peshawar. The coach came home with me too, I have an academy near my house, so he used to come with me from Peshawar to work with me.

It is like that only, everyone works hard.

Today’s innings I would like to dedicate to my fielding coach Aftab Khan and his academy. He gave me a lot of time to improve my weaknesses, no one does that. You need such people.

When you perform your hard work shows, and when you can't perform, no one values that hard work.

[Reporter:] The time that you were out between the World Cup, the team was going through a rough patch and a lot of talks about cornered tigers 1992, same thing started coming up again. So as a team, how do you think that, okay, this 92 can always happem, does the team draw inspiration from that? Or do you guys prefer not to draw inspiration from that rather than just win and forget about.

[Fakhar Zaman:] The good thing about our team and management is that they stay positive. They always stay positive and they never show us that we are out of the tournament. They back each and every guy and we still believe that we can play the semifinals and also finals. But let's see because now we are also looking to the Sri Lanka and New Zealand game. We are hopeful that, that will go our way.

[Reporter:] If you see the last T20 World Cup in Australia, the beginning was very slow, but when you decide that you have to win – where does that strength come from. In every world tournament we have seen this – where does this come from?

[Fakhar Zaman:] This Pakistani team is very talented. We have also played all over the world. If you see from the beginning till now – it just that we need a rhythm, which we tend to lose over time.

Like if you see, the way we lost against South Africa, but after that we have just improved.

So, I think our team lacks a rhythm and when we get that rhythm then everyone plays well. Like in the last match our bowlers bowled very well. Even in this match at the end the bowlers made a very good comeback. The way the wicket was playing, I think we saved 30 – 40 runs.

The main thing is rhythm, which I think we have got now.

[Reporter:] You must be having in your mind that you have to maintain the net run rate and also keeping all those calculations in your mind –

[Fakhar Zaman:] Yes of course – the rain was already playing in our head and of course when you have a target of 400 runs you will think about the calculations if rain stops play. After every over or two overs we used to get a message of how at every time we stay ahead of New Zealand as per the DLS Method.

When we went ahead and scored 10 runs, we didn't even try to play the other overs.

We already knew that it was going to rain and we were already ahead. So, this was in our mind.

New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson post-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] It's not often you score 400 in an ODI game and still end up on the losing side. Your thoughts on the events of the day today?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I mean, the first half was, I thought, a great effort. A lot of really good partnerships. Guys understood that the surface was good, perhaps better than it appeared, and we were able to get a really competitive total - so we thought.

And look, the guys in the second half tried hard. It was tough, the weather perhaps didn't help, but we can't take anything away from the tasks that Pakistan had to try and achieve and they came out and played beautifully well. And obviously [Fakhar] Zaman, when he's going, not many grounds are big enough, but certainly this one wasn't. And he just hit it to all parts. So, you know, credit to the way Pakistan came out and achieved what they did today. And for us, it's taking the good bits and the lessons as well and moving on to our next challenge.

[Reporter:] One quick question on your partnership with Rachin there today, it was quite evident that both of you were looking for the boundaries quite regularly, was that because at the back of your mind you were thinking this on this wicket you need a score in excess of a certain amount?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean you got the feeling that it was a decent surface, obviously, and so we were trying to basically grab some momentum and try and take it as far as we could. And then we got to a stage where it was really trying to up the ante with wickets in hand which we had. I thought guys came out and played beautifully to get us to that total.

A lot of positives there. Yeah, I mean it's been an incredible tournament. We've seen just, we've seen everything really. And we saw something special today from Pakistan.

[Reporter:] From being in a position where you had your own destiny in your own hands, you now are dependent on some of the other results that are going to happen as well. How do you look at that and what's going to be the approach in the next game for you?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean, I think the approach will be very similar. We can't rely on other teams obviously as you get down to some small, small margins of whether it's run rate or your last match. You know, anything can happen really, but our focus is very much still on the cricket that we want to keep playing and adjusting to what's in front of us. And we've done that in really positive ways and also being challenged at certain times which you fully expect in these sorts of competitions. So, we can't control what other people are doing but we can really focus on our next game and preparing well for that.

[Reporter:] New Zealand has become kind of Fakhar's favourite side to play against in recent times. So, like putting more some more light on how he performed against you guys, like what was so special about him that your plans probably didn't look like working against him today?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, he swung seriously hard and he hit everything out of the middle of his bat and it went miles basically and he's a very aggressive, dynamic player and you mentioned he's been very successful against us on a number of occasions. Today was probably one of his finest efforts. We know how dangerous he is and we knew that that would be a big wicket because he certainly won't die wondering and yeah, he played a special knock that ultimately got them across the line tonight.

[Reporter:] How much did that knock take out of you, in terms of your energy and the injuries that you've had to manage coming in and also during the tournament. So how much did the innings take out of you and how are you holding up body-wise looking ahead immediately to the next game in three, four days’ time?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean it's just nice to be back out there, to be honest. Like, obviously, playing the previous match and getting through that, with the focus being on my knee a little bit, and then to just break your thumb, which, yeah, a bit of a bummer, obviously. But, so just nice to be back out there with the team and playing. And yeah, I mean, to be honest, not really focusing on those things. It's just more about where we need to be as a team and what we need to try and do and the cricket that we need to play and a lot of good stuff.

A lot of teams are playing really, really well. And so, it's important that we keep focusing on our cricket and the challenge that we've got in a few days’ time against Sri Lanka.

[Reporter:] Can you take me through what your team talk is going to look like later today? Because there were a lot of conversations about combinations and the weather and DLS and all of that. We saw Ish Sodhi come back in today and he got taken for a fair number of runs So what is the conversation to him going to look like? How are you going to just prep the guys up a little bit after this loss?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean everybody got taken for plenty of runs, it's one of those grounds in one of those days. But yeah, I mean, it'll be a short chat. There's a lot left in this tournament for us. And although it's a frustrating result for us after so much of it going so well today, the quicker we move on and focus on our next challenge, the better. Take the positives, learn a few lessons. It's our first match here in Bangalore and in the conditions that we're faced with here and try and get nice and clear on what we need to try and do moving forward.

So yeah, that's the thing I suppose with the World Cups this year, you play usually a different venue every few days and so best not to dwell too much and just move forward.

[Reporter:] You picked two spinners today and you mentioned that the pitch may have looked a little different to how it played. So was it a case of picking for the conditions you thought you were going to get or was that a case also of like wanting a third seamer but not having someone who's 100% match fit to pick.

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean we obviously been challenged with injuries and things but we did see that surface and thought that the spin would be perhaps most threatening but like I mentioned, everybody went for plenty of runs and I think when that's the case in these sorts of games, it's more about moments or an over or two that can change the game quite quickly. And that was really difficult to come by. Both teams batted beautifully well and ultimately Pakistan just got their noses in front.

[Reporter:] Was there a point during your innings when your idea of conditions just changed and you were like, no, we need to aim even higher?

[Kane Williamson:] Higher than 400?

[Reporter:] Higher than what you made initially.

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, I mean, look, it probably surprised us a little bit. I thought the openers did a fantastic job of assessing the conditions and played beautifully well to get us a platform. And then, we wanted to try and take those partnerships deeper. And then we did get a feel that the surface was a good one, and it certainly was. And we wanted to basically try and get ourselves into position with wickets in hand, which we were able to do, and get a good total on the board. I thought the partnerships throughout were outstanding and the clarity and how the guys operated was brilliant. I suppose we leave it here and then you don't take it to any other match, so take the positives from it. And like I say, learn some of those lessons, small margins in these sorts of games, I think. So yeah, look forward to the next one.

[Reporter:] I know you're not the one to probably dwell on personal milestones and stuff, but missing out on a century, how do you process it?

[Kane Williamson:] Yeah, look, I mean, I just try and play the role for the team as best I can. And we were certainly in a position where we wanted to accelerate, regardless of what you're on. You know, I think it's just about trying to do the job for the team. And we saw that from a number of guys and whether you pass a milestone or not, that's probably more for all you people in the room. But in terms of contribution to the team, that's certainly the most important thing.

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