00:00Welcome to this post-match press conference.
00:02Please ensure you've got a microphone in your hand before you ask a question
00:05and please ensure that all mobile phones are either on mute or vibrate
00:08just so that we don't have any disruptions, please.
00:11Thank you very much.
00:12Do you think that electing to feel first on a wicket which looked very good for batting
00:22was a mistake or was it influenced by many other factors?
00:31I guess you can look in hindsight, but I think it was a pretty good wicket throughout.
00:39There wasn't much for, I guess, the bowlers.
00:42No, the cutters weren't really holding, not much spin.
00:44So I think either way you look at it, I think if we could have got a couple in the
00:48power play,
00:50squeeze them a little bit through the middle, 220 could have been chased down on a very good wicket.
00:55So, but I think, you know, credit to Sanju and Abhishek at the top, you know,
01:00to get 90, I think, off the power play.
01:03It's pretty tough from there.
01:08Mitch, what was the plan in the power play?
01:10Because it seemed like your focus was going wide and hiding the ball out of the hitter's reach.
01:16What was the plan that you guys fixed for the power play?
01:19Because you mentioned playing against India, the power, not losing the power play was really huge in the pre-match.
01:26Yeah, I think, you know, there wasn't a lot of, I guess, seam or swing to start.
01:32So I think it's, you know, the bowlers trying to do what they can to get out of the hitting
01:36arc.
01:37You know, we know how good both Sanju, Abhishek, Kishan are hitting, you know, all over the wicket.
01:43So, yeah, I think the, you know, whichever way you look at it, there's no perfect plan when guys are
01:50going.
01:51And I think, you know, it is hard to stop when guys are going like that.
01:55So whether it was a few more Yorkers or, you know, closing out balls, I think we tried the wide
02:01stuff.
02:01And then, you know, we tried the two on the leg side, so we tried everything.
02:06But, yeah, I think credit has to go to the way they set that power play up.
02:09And then from there, you can go pretty hard and together you can score like they did.
02:23Mitch, second over of the inning, Glenn Philip bowled a decent over and gave only five runs.
02:29Why he was not given the ball again?
02:33Yeah, I think the way, you know, they played the over, Abhishek, I thought, played that very smart.
02:39I know at times he comes a little bit hard at the off spinner, but he, you know, he gave
02:43it over to Sanju.
02:44And then I think, you know, the first kind of three overs is when the ball is doing its most.
02:48And then I think you can really, you know, capitalise on the last three of the power play like they
02:52did.
02:53So it was always going to be hard.
02:54I think if Sanju got out, definitely would have been another option for GP to bowl to the two left
02:58-handers.
02:59But, yeah, when you're not taking wickets, it's always a challenge.
03:04Mitch, hard luck.
03:05Doug, you have just said it was, like, you tried everything out there.
03:10You've played a lot of T20 cricket.
03:12How good a team do you think you've just lost a final to?
03:16Yeah, a very good team.
03:18You know, I think they know how to play in these conditions.
03:21They play on a lot of flat wickets against quality sides.
03:25And they showed that again today, that once they're going, it's pretty tough to stop.
03:29So I think for us, it was, you know, whether it was being braver with Yorkers or bouncers, I think
03:35we tried a lot of the cutters into the wicket that, you know, on wickets that aren't offering it much.
03:40You know, they just kind of go as well.
03:42So I think, you know, they did knock it around at times.
03:45And I think when we did, you know, use the slower bouncers, the Yorkers, for that little phase in the
03:51middle, we were able to slow them down.
03:52But I think, again, the damage was done.
03:55And then, you know, Dubé coming in at the end and hitting, you know, they're all striking it pretty well
03:58at the moment.
03:59So I think, yeah, you know, 230, we could have taken 230 on a pretty good wicket.
04:05Mitch, hi.
04:06Just wanted to know about the selection of the 11.
04:09Throughout this tournament, we have seen that most of the teams attack India with spin and they have struggled against
04:15spinners.
04:15You have the option of playing cold, but you decided to go ahead with Jacob.
04:20So can you please talk about this particular selection?
04:23Yeah, it was a tough one.
04:24I mean, we saw at Kolkata, I think the matchup again was, you know, off spin to their top three.
04:30You know, Ahmedabad, the wicket, the mixed soil, you know, usually is no spin.
04:36You know, there's always a little bit of bounce.
04:37And I think bowling my overs, XRs and Chakravartis, there was no real spin at any stage.
04:44So I think, you know, which way you go, I think, you know, there was potentially a bit of bounce
04:49for the seamers.
04:49But I think at the end of the day, it's an execution, whoever is bowling.
04:54You know, I think when you bowl, you know, nice areas for a period of time, you could, you know,
04:59get an out of overs.
05:00I think that was the main thing.
05:01You know, it wasn't trying to get wickets at times.
05:03It was, you know, how you be defensive to be attacking.
05:07I think when we did that well, we, you know, were able to squeeze, I think, a period of four
05:11overs.
05:11I mean, they lost four wickets, but, you know, outside of that, it was a few runs.
05:20Mitch, you've been part of a pretty, you've been part of a few finals losses, especially after you've screamed through
05:26a semifinal.
05:27You must be getting pretty sick of the feeling.
05:31Yeah, I guess it's not ideal, losing semis and finals.
05:34But, you know, like I said the other day, you get to this situation, you're coming up against teams that
05:39are also playing very good cricket.
05:41But, you know, India in a final, in India, it's always going to be a challenge.
05:46We knew that definitely underdogs going into the game, and they showed their class again tonight, you know, with that
05:54batting performance.
05:55And then, you know, everything kind of has to go well when you're chasing 250, and, you know, losing wickets
05:59in the power play is always a challenge.
06:02I think that was the tale of the day, was the two power plays.
06:05I think we were three for 40-odd, and they were 90-odd for none.
06:13Hi, Mitch.
06:14You played against India in the bilaterals, where Sanju was a total disaster, just about 45 runs or 46, and
06:22here he scored about 90 runs.
06:24So, what did you think make of him?
06:26What amendments he made to his batting, or where did he go right, and where did he go wrong earlier?
06:32Yeah, I guess unfortunate for us that he was saving all his runs for the World Cup.
06:37I think, you know, in a few of those games, he looked like he was trying to hit from ball
06:43one, or, you know, and then I think tonight, even the other night, he gave himself a chance, gave himself
06:48a few balls, and then, you know, I think on these wickets, when you're in, you can really cash in.
06:52And I think Abhishek was the same.
06:54He padded back a little bit of spin at the start, and then, you know, they said once they're both
07:00ready and faced a few balls, they were ready to go, and they did go.
07:03So, I think, you know, I think that was the play for us, was trying to see if we could
07:08both fall and get, you know, early poles.
07:10But, we obviously didn't tonight.
07:15Hi Mitch.
07:17So, you just, you said that your bowlers could have been braver with their Yorkers and bouncers, and obviously that
07:24your batting innings, chasing a massive total, didn't go fantastically.
07:32Have you let yourselves down tonight, and if so, why, do you think?
07:38Yeah, I think so.
07:39I mean, you know, you always have, when you come up against a very good team in a final, you
07:45always, you know, want to do well.
07:47And I think, we obviously, we all know that we weren't at our best tonight, and if you aren't at
07:53your best against a very good team, you're going to be exposed, and that's kind of what we were tonight.
07:57So, I think, you know, we probably look at some options with the ball and with the bat, you know,
08:04and can reflect on that.
08:05Again, you know, you know you have to be going pretty well against India in a final.
08:10I think, you know, some of the options with the ball at the start, you know, we could have potentially
08:14done things a little bit different, but I think when two guys are going in the power play, as we,
08:19I guess, our innings against South Africa as well, it's pretty tough to stop guys when they're going.
08:25So, whatever that looks like, we'll reflect on that, you know, going forward, coming up against, you know, teams on
08:30very flat wickets, what does it look like?
08:33It might be a little bit different, and then, I guess, with the bat, you know, I guess you're not
08:38going to win a chase in the power play, but you're going to lose one.
08:43But, I guess, yeah, 250 tonight was always going to be a tough score.
08:50Mitch, before the final, you put out a sweet little note on Twitter, even apologizing to your people back home
08:56for playing on a Sunday and also asking them to wake up early in the morning to support you and
09:01watch the final.
09:02Having come so close and, you know, finishing as yet another finalist, what message do you have for your people
09:09back home?
09:10Yeah, I guess it's, you know, I guess it's thanks to the fans back home for following us.
09:17Yeah, I might have to go to work, obviously, without a trophy today.
09:20But, you know, we obviously get great support back home, and we get great support here as well.
09:26You know, and it was, you know, it was awesome to play in front of so many people tonight.
09:31Obviously, they had a few blue shirts on, not many black shirts, but, you know, again, it's always a great
09:36occasion, and it's always cool for us to play in front of, you know, so many people.
09:40So, yeah, it was obviously wasn't our greatest effort tonight.
09:44Came up against a very good team.
09:46So, yeah, I think just thanking the fans back home.
10:19Chances or any thoughts on that as you look ahead to end this drought, end this sequence?
10:27Yeah, it's probably quite far away there.
10:29I think, yeah, we'll reflect as a group tonight, you know, over the next few days of, I guess, this
10:36tournament and what it looked like, I think.
10:38You know, to make it to a final is obviously a pretty good effort from the boys, and, you know,
10:43they should be very proud of the efforts throughout this tournament.
10:47Yeah, and then I guess the next kind of major events one day is in South Africa.
10:50Like you said, it's going to play slightly different to what we expect here, and then our next T20 World
10:56Cup is in Australia and New Zealand.
10:58So, it'll be nice to get a few fans and the crowd there and, I guess, familiar conditions.
11:05And I think that's, you know, one of the hardest things is to win a World Cup in your country.
11:10So, for India to do that, you know, this obviously comes with a lot of added pressure, you know, home
11:15fans.
11:16So, for them to, you know, win this trophy tonight is, you know, they should be very proud of that.
11:23Hi, Mitch, tough luck.
11:24You speak about how difficult it is to win a World Cup at home.
11:28How, could you sum up how intimidating it is to play a World Cup final in India?
11:36Some, some of the mental challenge that undertakes, and we always talk about chasing in a final.
11:46How difficult did you find that out to be today, especially when all the chatter has been about India's batting
11:53and the kind of template they set in the semi-final and how it seems to have replicated itself?
11:59Yeah, I think first on the playing in India is always a great occasion.
12:04You know, I've been coming here for a few years now and, you know, every time you play in front
12:07of that many people, it's very exciting.
12:09It obviously comes with, you know, the challenges, especially being captain, trying to get hold of your fielders and stuff
12:15when you can't hear anyone.
12:17But, you know, again, it's, you know, that's what we play the game for is to play in front of,
12:22you know, people that are huge fans of cricket.
12:25So, I think, you know, there was definitely, yeah, obviously finals come with nerves and pressures,
12:30but I think, you know, there was definitely a lot of pressure on India as well to perform in front
12:35of, you know, so many people.
12:36And they did that outstandingly well today.
12:41So, I think credit to them and I think, yeah, I think, you know, I guess you look at our
12:47semi-final.
12:48If you can take wickets in the power play, squeeze through a middle and then, you know, restrict a team
12:52to, you know, even 200 on a very good wicket,
12:56that could have been chasteful.
12:57I think 250, you know, you need a lot of things to go your way.
13:01So, and I think that's, you know, you've got to give credit to India for that, the way they came
13:05out and played and knew that they needed a good score.
13:07And, you know, I think you can bat them yourself, you know, badass out of the game, I guess, with
13:12a score of 250.
13:14Thank you very much.
13:15Thank you very much.
