Rahul Dravid and Tom Latham pre-match press conference, India vs New Zealand, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023

India Coach Rahul Dravid  and New Zealand Captain Tom Latham pre-match press conference, India vs New Zealand, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

India Coach Rahul Dravid 

 New Zealand Captain Tom Latham 

 

India Coach Rahul Dravid pre-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] How is this conversation on the conference – [inaudible, question about Hardik Pandya]

 

[Rahul Dravid:] Yeah, obviously, is an important player for us and he is an important all-rounder so helps us really balance our squad out really well. But he is going to be missing this game, so we will have to work around that and see what is the best combination and what we can come up with best. I mean, in the end, we've got to work with the 14 that we've got. Sometimes you do expect that these kind of things can happen, so that's why you have got a squad. We will have to see what works best for these conditions and these wickets. But yeah, probably might not have the kind of balance that we probably used in the first four games.

[Reporter:] I have a two-part question. One is, in most of the games so far, the Indian spinners have been able to choke the opposition out. Do you guys have also observed that the opposition batters have been a little circumspect and not put the spinners under pressure?

And B, in terms of the opposition's quality to play spin, is this India's biggest challenge so far, at least from facing the spin point of view?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] I wouldn't really want to focus much on the opposition players. I'd really like to compliment the role of our spinners. I think they have done a fantastic job. I think the way the three of them bowled in the first game and then obviously we played with Kuldeep and Jadeja in the next three games but just the way they bowled and like you said rightly you know the way they've been able to bring us back into games, control games, take wickets, bring the run rate down, has been more, I think, down to their skill and their ability.

It's nice for us to have both of them in the last three games, a lot of experience, different skills as well, even though both of them are left-arm spinners. They're obviously different kinds of left-handed bowlers, left-arm spinners. So that gives us variation, gives us different angles that they bowl at.

So yeah, big credit to them. And also, just the bowling coaches working with them to really ensure that they've been bowling really well. I thought Rohit's done a great job of handling them really well and working out the right ends, some really good field placings as well. So yes, I think all in all we have done a really good job and hopefully we can keep it going.

 

[Reporter:] We heard about some reports about the wickets - Whether it’s an Australia match or Pakistan match? That there is some favorism in the wickets from the ICC. How do you see that, because we have made runs, we have taken wickets – and we never say anything about the wicket. So how do you see this as a coach?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] I will definitely respectfully disagree with the average rating given for those two wickets. I think they were good wickets. Maybe I will answer this in English because I might get myself into trouble by saying something.

If you only want to see 350 games and rate only those wickets as good, then I disagree with that. I think you have to see different skills on display as well. It's not about if we wanted to see only 4’s and 6’s being hit, then we have T20 wickets as well, where, honestly, in Delhi or in Pune, probably 350-plus wickets as well. Only those are good wickets, then why are the bowlers here? Why have spinners at all, for that matter? If you all want spinners to come in and bowl 10 - 60 and go, so that you can watch fours and sixes and one ball spins or two balls spin and you rate that as average.

I disagree with that because I think we should see all skills on display, the ability to rotate strike through the middle. See the quality of watching Jadeja bowl or a Santner bowl or a Zampa bowl or watching Kane Williamson rotate the strike through the middle, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul the way they batted against Australia. Those are skills as well. Those also need to come out and be shown and be displayed.

Some of the wickets, even we have played, I mean, honestly, in Delhi and Pune, rotating the strike in the middle overs wasn't necessarily a very difficult skill. The contest was about who could hit more 4’s and 6’s. So that's not the only way, in my opinion, respectfully, to be able to judge wickets. I think we need to have a better way of deciding what is good and average.

So, I give you an example. I mean, we were, So I don't know what the rating was for those wickets, but we played the T20 World Cup in Australia. In Perth, we played a game 138 plays 138. India plays South Africa, seaming and swinging all over the place. That's a T20 game. I don't know what rating was given to that.

I hope - maybe I hope that was rated average as well.

World T20 final Pakistan plays England again 130 scored in a T20 game. I am not complaining about that. I think it is good, it is great. That wicket at Perth was good. It challenged different skills. It brought different skills out in display. And I am saying this even though we have lost those games. So that is no problem with that. Sometimes wickets will turn a bit, sometimes they will seam a bit, they will swing a bit, they will bounce a bit. All we want to see is sixes and fours being hit in 350 scores as good wickets, then I disagree.

 

[Reporter:] I just want to know your thoughts on - how do you see in this World Cup, like you mentioned 350 scores, I was about to ask you that, whether that is really fair enough judgment of skills.

 

[Rahul Dravid:] So, in a tournament, I just want to see variety, no? I mean, yes, there are sometimes there will be some good wickets in a tournament. There will be sometimes 350 scored and games that go at high scoring. There will be sometimes wickets where the ball turns, brings the spinners into play. There will be other wickets where it might seam a little bit. You have got a long tournament, you are playing in India, different parts of the country, there will be different wickets, different challenges. The teams that are able to cope with all of those challenges and deal with that are the ones that will end up being successful.

We as a team have to be able to focus on that and work with that. You want to standardize everything and make every wicket a 350 wicket? I mean – and there are very good skills on display, even in a 350-plus wicket. Yes, we see some great hitting. We see some terrific shots being played and all that. But other skills get missed out. And that's fine on that particular day. But the first few games, when it spins a little bit or something happens, it brings the bowlers into the game. You start rating them as average. Where does it leave the bowlers? Why are they coming then? If all we want to see is fours – like I said - we have T20, play two T20 matches.

 

[Reporter:] Rahul, during your playing days, you have kept wickets in ODIs and when your primary vocation was batting, your namesake is doing the same thing now. How difficult is it as a role?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] It's certainly not easy and I think he is doing a fantastic job of it. I thought Rahul's really kept superbly in this tournament and then batted really well whenever he's got the opportunity to do that, especially in the first game. But yeah, I think it is challenging, because for someone like him who, and having had that experience myself, he's not someone who keeps regularly at all. But he's probably kept a little bit more than I have. As a youngster, he kept probably up to his under-19 days, and he's kept in a few T20 games, as well for Karnataka and all that. So, he kept a little bit more than I did, but certainly not easy, considering he was also out with injury for four or five months. When we first decided that he would keep and we wanted to have that kind of option with him as one of the options of being able to keep in and bat in the middle order and we thought we would build him up to this tournament by giving him game time and building him up. But unfortunately, due to his injury, he actually couldn't keep for a while.

But the way he's come back, the way he's worked hard, even in his injury, he worked really hard. When he started getting back to skills, spent a lot of time with the wicket-keeping, worked really hard on it.

So yeah, I thought he's kept really well in this thing. And it's been really good to see. It just certainly gives us a lot of confidence in him and his ability.

 

[Reporter:] Just taking a cue from the question around Hardik. You know, there have been a lot of talk in the past as well, where Rohit had said that there's a lot of clarity about roles of certain players. So, if you could just explain the kind of role which you had in mind for someone like Shardul Thakur, and how much that is going to change given that now Hardik is not available for this game.

 

[Rahul Dravid:] Yeah. So, I mean, without going into too much of specifics, and it's hard to go into a lot of specifics in a PC, but yeah, I mean, Shardul clearly, his role was to be that kind of bowling all-rounder for us, you know, in the games that he played. In the games that he played, we saw him as someone who certainly has a happy knack of taking wickets as we have seen and then bowling those middle overs for us and being like a fourth seeming option for us on certain wickets which would probably require that fourth seeming option.

And plus, obviously, he hasn't had a chance to really bat a lot over the last bit. But certainly, he's been working very hard in the nets with his batting. And we've been working very hard on it. We've seen that he has the ability to hit some big shots and play some good shots. Of course, we've seen it more probably in Test cricket, not so much in one-day cricket as yet, because he has not had the opportunity to bat much. But certainly, that was the kind of role he fitted in for us in that bowling all-rounders role.

Obviously, with Hardik not being there and Hardik being one of those four seamers, we'll just have to see with the combination we can go with. We certainly can go with, obviously, the three fast bowlers or the three spinners. With that kind of combination, we still could play him and play Ash and move Jadeja up.

Many different, different permutations and combinations. I wouldn't want to give too much away. I mean, we are pretty clear on what our playing 11 is tomorrow. But I wouldn't want to be giving too much away.

But yeah, I think there are different, different combinations we could come up with. Obviously the three seamers, having someone like Shami sitting out there and bringing him in this game is a great option. In some cases, there is Ashwin who has obviously been sitting out, who has great quality as well. So, there are two or three combinations we could use considering this till Hardik gets back.

 

[Reporter:]  Just adding to that, how much of a factor is Ishan being a left-hander against New Zealand's left-arm spinners? Will that be a factor as well? And also, that he's played the first two games as opposed to someone like Surya who has not played yet. How much of a factor is that?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] I mean, it is nice to have Ishan. And like you said, rightly, he's been playing well. He's a left-hander. But again, Surya has also come into some great form against Australia, as we saw. Played a couple of fantastic innings. Absolutely fantastic player against spin, as we know. Left arm spin or off spin, or any kind of spin, for that matter.

And plus, the role may be for a middle over role - so we will just have to see which one we want to – we are pretty clear about the kind of roles that people can play. So, if you are looking for someone who might be a bit of an enforcer for us in the lower middle order, then Surya is certainly someone who can do that. If you are looking for someone a little bit higher up the order, then maybe we might go with Ishan.

So, it just depends on what we are looking at.

 

[Reporter:] Rahul, the matches you have played so far, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Pune, all were hot. How much do the conditions change here, especially the temperature has dropped. How important is the dew factor and how important will the toss be after that?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] Dew factor is important. Dew is there here - there is nothing to hide in this. We are in Dharamshala, the temperature is cold so there will definitely be dew. And dew is a factor – but  you can't think much about it. Of course, you can make tactics and strategies according to that, but you have no guarantee that you will win the toss. So, you have to plan both.

And it's a good thing here. We have seen that the Netherlands defended against South Africa. Bangladesh chased the first match against them. But it was a day match.

At night the Netherlands defended the score. So, it's not like you can't defend. If you have to bowl in dew, then you have to make a few more runs. You have to play positively and give yourself a cushion. And you can also bowl and defend.

So, the toss is not in our hands. We don't know if we'll bat or bowl. Sometimes it's in your hands, sometimes it's not. So, you can't decide that. But you should have the belief that whatever the situation is, we'll try our best to win the match.

 

[Reporter:] Coach, how do you assess New Zealand as an opposition? Top of the table clash, they have not had it easy with them in the past?

 

[Rahul Dravid:] Yeah, very good side. I will say that they are playing very good cricket. They play in India a lot. They played here. They come on tours to India a lot. A lot of their players have played in the IPL, so they're very used to these conditions.

A lot of experience in their team as well. If you look at their squad, we were going through their squad and obviously doing our strategy meetings, and they do have a lot of experience and depth in their squad as well. They are well balanced.

So, yes, of course, a very good team and playing good cricket as well. So, we know we will have to be at our absolute best.

But I think it's really exciting for us as well because we believe that we are playing good cricket at the moment. So, it should be a really good contest and we know that we will have to play well but we are very confident.

New Zealand Captain Tom Latham pre-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] It's been almost 20 years you are continuously winning against India in World Cup so will this rhythm will continue because India is coming in a big way.

India is coming with a stronger way, so how will you see that? If you will feel any challenges about that?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, obviously, India are a fantastic side. We've seen that over many years, especially at this World Cup as well. They're playing some fantastic cricket, which is great to see. On the back of that, I see two form teams that are playing some good cricket, so it's going to be a great contest tomorrow. Over recent years, we've had some great games of cricket, whether here in India or back home in New Zealand. So, I'm sure tomorrow the clash will be no different and I'm sure both sides are really looking forward to it.

 

[Reporter:] How important is having Mitch Santner in your team because whenever you are playing in India, spin becomes an important part?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, he's been a massive part of our side for many years now. I think his experience in these conditions, he's obviously played in the IPL for many years, He's been with the Chennai side for a long time so I think we've seen how adaptable he is in these conditions. He can obviously turn the ball and he's obviously got a lot of bounce as well which makes him really threatening. He's been fantastic for us so far this tournament and I'm sure hopefully tomorrow will be no different. And as I said he's performed really well and in a couple of games and I'm sure he'll be looking forward to trying to repeat that.

 

[Reporter:] His experience playing India?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, again his experience is second to none. Obviously, being with Chennai for a long time, we've obviously got other guys as well that have experienced the IPL for many years. So, leaning on that experience is really important. We haven't played a lot of cricket up here in Dharamshala. Guys haven't played a lot, so for us, trying to adapt to conditions as quick as possible is going to be really important.

 

[Reporter:] Firstly, the consistency of New Zealand, not just in this World Cup, over the last two World Cups, what do you put that down to and India they can because of Hardik’s injury there are a couple of options that they can go with does that make it difficult as an opponent not knowing how they'll go and how does that affect your planning and preparation?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, I think from our consistency over World Cups it's always been for us is about trying to play our brand of cricket as best we can, for us sticking to our game plan and trying to do that for long periods of time and stay in the game for as long as possible has sort of been the key to what we've done. Obviously the last two ODI World Cups have been obviously in Australia and England where conditions are reasonably similar to back home, whereas this one's obviously completely different where conditions are completely different.

So again, adapting as much as we can has been a massive thing that we talk about and doing that as quick as possible and if we can do that then hopefully that gives ourselves a good chance.

And obviously on the Indian side, yeah obviously missing Hardik which is obviously a key member obviously with the balance of their side So for us it's just trying to adapt to their team, whatever that may be. That's out of our control, but our preparation will prepare for anyone or for all of their team who are going to play and we'll just wait and see what they come up with tomorrow.

 

[Reporter:] New Zealand obviously has India's number when it comes to the ICC events. So, what is it about India that you have such a high success rate? Where do you think are they susceptible?

 

[Tom Latham:] I'm not sure to be honest. They're a fantastic team. They've been playing some great cricket for a long period of time. We've had some great contests in ICC events, but also in bilateral series, whether that be home or away. We've played each other quite a lot over recent years which has been really cool.

So yeah, I'm not too sure as I said just before - for us it's just about trying to play our game plan as best we can and try to execute it as well as we can and if we do that then we know we can beat any team in the world on our day. So, we've spoken about this tournament that anyone can beat anyone on their day and it's about whoever turns up on that specific day and plays well. So, tomorrow's going to be no different.

 

[Reporter:] New Zealand obviously have had really good runs in world tournaments, particularly ODI World Cups over the last couple of cycles. What is it, do you think, about the New Zealand set-up, kind of a bigger picture about what allows you to be a good tournament team to adapt from opposition to opposition. Is there something, you mentioned adaptability, is that how does that kind of play itself out?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, I'm not 100% sure what it is, but as I said, being adaptable is probably one of the most important things for us as a group and trying to do that as quick as possible. Obviously with this format you play everyone once which is obviously unique to 2015 where it was pool play.

So yeah, again we're in India, we’re offered different conditions that we're used to. So, adaptability, sticking to our plan as best you can. And if you do that, then hopefully that gives you a good chance at the end of the game.

 

[Reporter:] So, the conditions here have been the best for seamers up front. Last few games between India and New Zealand, the Indian top order has looked susceptible to when the ball is moving. Do you think with the top order in nice form coming into this match, the Indian top order that is, and your bowlers are also doing the job, that might be the passage which may as well decide this game?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, I think there's many factors that lead into a game. I don't think it's one specific area that you can nail down. It's obviously playing well for 50 overs in both innings - is really important. But as you said, India's top order have been fantastic this tournament. And again, our bowling attack has done a really good job up front as well. So that's going to be a great contest with bat and ball and obviously vice versa with Indian seamers in our top order. If you look at the match-ups throughout our game against both sides and there's some pretty good matchups there.

So, I think throughout the whole innings of both innings it's going to be really you know really tight contest and I'm sure both sides are really looking forward to it.

 

[Reporter:] Skipper what do you make of the conditions, the pitch, and the outfield?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, it looks a reasonably good wicket. There's obviously been a couple of games here throughout the tournament, so I'm just trying to get as much information on those games as much as possible. Yeah, trying to get a read on the surface and it's a new wicket so you know hopefully it allows for a good game of cricket.

So yeah, whatever we've got, we've got to adapt as quick as we can and hopefully, we can do that as quick as possible.

 

[Reporter:] Just taking you back to the last game versus Afghanistan, how satisfying was it to recover from where you were, four down for 120-odd, then doing well against the spin trio of Nabi Rashid [Mujeeb]? How satisfying was it, and how much momentum does it give you before this top of the table clash versus India?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, it was obviously satisfying to be put under pressure. Obviously throughout the start of the innings we were on top and then there was a period of the game were Afghanistan put us under a lot of pressure. And for us to overcome that sort of tough period, just to absorb a little bit of pressure, and then once we felt the time was right, put a bit of pressure back on them. And I guess to get the score that we did from the position we're in was really satisfying.

So, if we're faced with that situation tomorrow, whoever it may be, then if we're able to absorb a bit of pressure and then finally put it back on the Indian team, whether that be with bat and ball, that's going to be really important.

So just trying to find the right times to do that. And I guess that comes down to the communication between the team and whether what they say is the right thing to do at the right time.

Yeah, another contest that's going to be pretty fascinating to watch.

 

[Reporter:] Tom did you guys you know stay up and catch the All Blacks in action last night and they've reached the finals with another Rugby World Cup going on. How inspiring is their journey and do you guys exchange messages what's been the mood regarding that also up any update on Kane and Southee?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, obviously I definitely stayed up for the All Blacks and watched them. It was a great contest, obviously Kiwis support each other wherever that may be around the world and we're certainly no different in supporting the All Blacks and obviously we've had so much support back home for us here and this World Cup as well.

So obviously great to see you know that they're there for another week and good luck to them next week's going to be a great contest and yeah Kane’ss obviously still nursing his thumb injury. It's a day-by-day process with him as well. Fingers crossed he'll be available for later on in the tournament.

And in regards to Tim, he's available for selection.

 

[Reporter:] What's the status of dew? This is a cooler place compared to wherever you've played in the last few days. What's the status on dew and is it going to make some impact on the toss, as in your decision at the toss?

 

[Tom Latham:] Yeah, I think dew is a massive factor here in Dharamshala. I think we turned up at 5 o'clock last night, and there was some dew starting to form. So yeah, for us, trying to work out what the best way is, for us moving forward into the game, whether it be a bat or ball first.

So, we'll come up with that decision tomorrow - today and tomorrow. But yeah, I guess, yeah, obviously understanding that it's going to play a factor at some point and try to deal with it as best we can.

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