Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 12 : Ahead of his side's ICC Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at Chennai, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said that their opponents are very familiar with subcontinent conditions and have a number of match-winners in their side.
New Zealand will take on Bangladesh in their ICC Cricket World Cup match at Chennai on Friday. While New Zealand has registered two wins in two games so far, Bangladesh has one win and one loss in the match.
On the Bangladesh threat in subcontinent conditions, Williamson said at the pre-match press conference, "Yeah, I mean, I think certainly in the subcontinent, they are very, very familiar with these conditions and they have a number of match winners throughout their side and I keep coming back to the fact that you turn up to world events and every year there is such a large group of teams that can all beat each other with the variety of conditions with the match winners throughout every team that are here and all the work that goes into actually getting to this tournament."
"Every team brings a slightly different challenge and yeah, I think it is important that as a side, it is just trying to connect with the important parts of your game as a team that you want to keep committing to, because it is a long tournament. Every game is a tough one. So, it is trying to keep applying ourselves as best we can," he added.
Chennai's wicket at Chepauk stadium is usually spin friendly and on the threat of Bangladesh spinners on such a surface, Williamson said that NZ has come with a mindset that any team can beat anyone and conditions are going to change.
"We know it is going to be a big challenge tomorrow and as is every game, you know, we come into this tournament knowing that anybody can beat anybody. That makes a really exciting event I think and the conditions are always going to change. You go from venue to venue and they do vary a lot and we have seen here that there is been that spin and the pitch has varied perhaps as the games moved on as well so throughout the day - but definitely I think both teams have some good spin bowlers that no doubt will play a big part tomorrow," said the skipper.
"For us as a team it is really just trying to keep focusing on our plans and what we set out to do and do our roles as best we can, sort of knowing that it could look a little bit different, to perhaps our first couple of games," he added.
On the presence of the former Indian player Sridharan Sriram as technical consultant of the team and his local knowledge about the conditions, Williamson said that local knowledge no doubt can be valuable.
"Yeah, absolutely. I think local knowledge at any venue, but certainly in the country that you're in, can provide some good insight. I think all teams are trying to do as much homework as they can and tap into some of the experience that they might have in their group so it can, it can definitely add some value," he said.
Williamson said that Rachin, who has been batting in the top-order in the absence of Williamson and has impressed with a century and fifty, is a huge part of their side and will be involved in coming games.
"Rachin? Yeah, I mean we still need to have a look at the surface in terms of the balance that we are looking at which will then certainly affect the selection - but Rachin has been a huge part of our side and had some really significant contributions in the first two and will absolutely be involved," he said.
Williamson said that his side is focused on adapting to different conditions that come with playing in any corner of the world during a global tournament.
On changes in the ODI format since World Cup 2019 in England and Wales, Williamson said that the format has evolved a bit but there are still a bunch of things that have stayed similar. Teams are trying to push their game forward, he added.
"I think with the number of T20 sort of World Cups that we have had, it is probably meant that there has been a lot more T20 cricket building up to those events. Yeah, I mean it probably keeps evolving a little bit and there are probably a bunch of things that still remain quite similar that you do need to still keep considering because as we know, you can still turn up on any day and when we saw in 2019 where there were expectations that there will be scores of 400 plus where in fact they were probably more like 250 to 260 range and so there is still a lot of adjustment and adapting to the way you play that gives you the best chance and I think every team does it a little bit differently," said Williamson.
"All teams are trying to improve and get better and push their games forward. Does feel like it has come up quite quickly, even though it has been four years. So yeah, I mean, I think there will be some subtle parts to it that have evolved a bit, but ultimately, I think conditions will play the biggest part in the differences that we might see when you go from a World Cup in England or Australia or New Zealand and then you come here in the in India, so they bring some natural differences for sure," he added.
On whether there is a fair contest between bat and ball in ODIs, Williamson said that it is important that there is equal competition between bat and ball in the format and in World Cups, such a balance is seen.
"Yeah, I mean I think it's important that there is that, I think we have seen it in some games and in others you know it can sort of go one way or the other. That's the changing conditions and some surfaces might be spin-friendly, seam-friendly, batter-friendly," said Williamson.
"I do think often in World Cups you do see a pretty good balance. I think we saw that at the last World Cup and even the one before that as well and probably the one before that and I cannot remember too much past that. But yeah, I think it is important I do think that you want everybody that has a role and has a real part to play and be an aggressive option with the art that they have. So, I suppose it is an ongoing challenge," he concluded.
Williamson said that on both pitches so far, both surfaces have been good.
"The World Cup pitches - Yeah, I mean we have played on two and they were really good surfaces. We played on a fresh one and then a used one and it was still really good and it was a little bit different," said Williamson.
"I suppose we are just going to keep seeing the different characteristics of the pitches in the different parts of India, which I think is quite natural in world events. So yeah, by the looks they've been good surfaces," he concluded.
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.
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