Temba Bavuma addresses the media ahead of the Proteas’ 3rd World Cup match against the Netherlands in Dharamsala.
[Reporter:]
Would you say this is one of the most beautiful grounds that you’ve ever been and might play at? And also, what are you guys expecting of the weather to do tomorrow? And does that influence your plans at all?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, it definitely is one of the most beautiful grounds to play at around the world. In terms of what to expect tomorrow, we’re not expecting rain, that’s what we were told, but I guess we’ll see what happens from there. If it affects our combinations – probably not too much. I think we’ll obviously have a look at the wicket. I think that’ll be probably the biggest determiner as to which way we go. But the weather I guess is just more of an awareness and that’s being mindful of potentially that could be a factor in the game.
[Reporter:]
Just want to know as well, did you guys stay up last night, and watch the Boks and if so, what did you think?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, definitely. I’m still trying to wake up from the late night. Incredible game. Inspirational the way the guys went about their business. I think the intensity that the game was played at, from the first minute till the last, I think that’s one thing that the guys kept speaking about. Obviously happy, as they were able to get over the line. But yeah, incredible, inspirational game.
[Reporter:]
Tell me, if you would have played two and won two – Things couldn’t have gone better for you so far. Does the plan change now or do you just keep doing what you’re doing?
[Temba Bavuma:]
I think we just keep doing what we’re doing. We’ll take it game by game, as I always say. Every game will present different opportunities, and different challenges, and it’s for us to man up to whatever those challenges are.
So, coming up against the Netherlands tomorrow, nothing will be different. We’ll assess conditions here in Dharamsala and play accordingly. But yeah, good start. Obviously, we want to be two and two. I think the important thing is that we keep getting better and better and use that momentum.
[Reporter:]
I suppose that sort of extends also to the outfield. There’s been a lot of talk about it being a bit bumpy, you know? And there’s had to be some remedial work done in the build-up and stuff. So, are you sort of like in agreement with Rob, who said sort of like you might have to be cautious of diving too over eagerly on the surface or how would you think you guys approach fielding on this?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think the field is a bit patchy. We did have a fielding practice last night and to be honest it didn’t play as bad as it really looked – but I guess we’ll see how it goes within the game. We have spoken about you know trying to be a bit more cautious. Maybe changing your diving technique, I don’t know how easy that is to do when you are in the heat of the moment I guess guys will just have to I guess just pay a bit more attention to that – But yeah, like I said when we fielded yesterday it wasn’t all too bad. But we’ll really get to see when we’re playing in the game tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
You have been scoring runs at a good strike rate, you know, all of you, all the batters. Is that a plan that you had prepared earlier before the tournament, or it is just about the wickets, the way wickets are playing?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think to go back to what has been said regarding our brand of cricket, us being opportunistic as batters, as bowlers, looking to take the game on. That obviously means that the strike rates will be a bit higher. If you look at our top six, and top seven, all of the guys really have been striking at high strike rates. Other guys are obviously exceeding in that department. But I think it’s just more a matter of us keeping up the intent, looking for opportunities to put bowlers under pressure and obviously backing our skills and execution. So, coming into the World Cup, nothing is going to be different. We’re going to keep going the same way. We’re going to keep backing that.
[Reporter:]
So, the last time you guys played against the Netherlands, they pulled one against you at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year. And with Afghanistan having pulled off an upset, a bigger one yesterday, how are you assessing the opposition now? Does that sort of change your mentality towards them?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Not at all. I think we’ll give them the respect that they deserve, Netherlands. We know that their side will prepare with proper attention to detail and they’ll cover their bases. So, we’ve got to make sure that we do the same thing, we make sure that we pitch up, there’s no expectation that things are just going to happen our way.
But most importantly, we just keep backing what we are doing. So, there’s no complacency or taking the game for granted. The last time we played in the Netherlands was back home in South Africa in that series. We obviously needed those points to qualify for the World Cup and I think there, the performances that we showed were critical. So tomorrow, we’ll be looking to do more of the same.
[Reporter:]
Eight members by my count of the 11 in Adelaide, in the game against the Netherlands, or in the squad. I’m sure it didn’t feel like it that day, but it’s almost an advantage now. You don’t need to convince yourselves that they can beat you know that.
Well, you know there’s no kind of- it’s not an airy-fairy thing that these guys could beat you – you know that for a fact and that must almost help with not motivation but you know for a fact that they could beat you, that you cannot under any circumstances take them lightly.
[Temba Bavuma:]
We definitely won’t be taking them lightly. There was a T20 World Cup last year, so 50 over World Cup now, different format, different ask in terms of your skills, being able to do your skills for a longer period of time. So, I think that’s something that I think we all need to appreciate.
Like I said, we played them in South Africa and I think our victories there were emphatic in my view. So, I think in terms of the confidence and belief within the team without us being arrogant or loud about it I think it’s still up there. We still respect the opposition, not just the Netherlands, but any opposition that you come up against at an international level. But we’ll be coming up, we’ll be coming into the game with the same mindset that we had against Sri Lanka and that we had against Australia.
