All said and done, the captains are ready for cricket World Cup

All participating teams’ leaders speak on their challenges and how they plan to tackle them

The 13th edition of the ODI World Cup will kickstart on Thursday with defending champions England versus 2019 runners-up New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium here. All 10 participating team captains met on the eve of the game in Ahmedabad. Here’s what these leaders spoke about the World Cup.  

India's Rohit Sharma on the biggest challenge of his career:
I know what's at stake, and so do the team members. The guys who are part of this team also know what's at stake. So, for us, it's just about taking everything out now and just focusing on what we want to do as a team and not worry about the expectations because that's always going to be there, not worry about who we're playing and not worry about what is happening elsewhere. It's time now for us to just be secluded a little bit, and then focus on what we want to do as a team.

Also Read: Is it coming home, India?

Rohit Sharma about his leadership skills: 
I have had to work on a lot of things. I think firstly, being the leader, the first thing is that you have got to understand your teammates, you have got to understand their strengths, their weaknesses and then give them that freedom to go and play and express [themselves]. Because I believe that if the players have that superb platform without any pressure, without any burden, they can just come out and play the way they want to play. So, I think our job is to make sure that we lay that platform for them and then it's all theirs to go out there and play the game they want to. 

England captain Jos Buttler on England's biggest strength: 
I think first and foremost, we've got some good players, which is a good place to be. You need good teams, you need guys with experience and a bit of X-factor, and I think we certainly have that. Mainly, I'd say that experience is something that's going to hold us in good stead. We've been through those tournaments with both ups and downs along the way. This is a long tournament and we would sure be challenged in different scenarios and situations, both on the field and off it as well. So, I think we've been through most things as a team. And we can look back at those as reference points as to how to maybe handle them when they come up in the weeks that come. But it's always about creating something new. You can't recreate the past. It gives us a nice cushion of some certainty that we've been in those situations, but it's all about the start of a new journey and creating something new that starts tomorrow [Thursday].

Jos Buttler on handling pressure: 
I think as Rohit mentioned earlier, there's always a level of expectation and pressure that comes naturally with representing your country in a World Cup and I think the one thing I always try and remind people is to have a level of acceptance that, that it is there. You know, that's why the room is so full. People have an interest, especially here in India, where  cricket is revered more than anywhere else in the world. But you should enjoy that, accept that. I'm a fan of other sports as well and know what it's like to be a fan watching as well and wanting your team to do so well.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on recovering from his knee injury: 
Obviously, injuries are not something that you want to have to go through and all the rehab and bits and pieces that come with it. But I've been fortunate really to have recovered reasonably well and just really excited to have been named in the squad and be sitting here now and excited at the prospect of playing in another World Cup and leading my team as well. So yeah, there's still a little bit of work to get through, but it was really good to get back out in the park in some of those warm-up games and do a little bit of time in the field. Yeah, it was nice to do that after some time on the sidelines.

Kane Williamson on the effect of T20 cricket on ODI World Cup: 
I think every four years, even though with the introduction of all the T20 competitions, T20 World Cups, they're still very much major events, the World Test Championship as well, but I still think the ODI World Cup, I don't know if everybody else shares that same opinion, but it's definitely one of the top events that we can play and be involved in.

Australia captain Pat Cummins on using the World Cup platform to  inspire positive change to create a better future for average children: 
Thanks for that question. I know when I was a child growing up, I absolutely idolised sports people and cricketers in particular, watching them on TV. And I looked up to them and wanted to be like them and emulate what they were doing. So, I think that's a really awesome opportunity that we have every time we step out on the field. And I think it's really important that we play the game in the right spirit. And even outside of cricket, we get so many wonderful opportunities. So, if we can use that platform to help others, especially children that might be up against it, to help them out. I think it's really important we do so.

Pat Cummins on his first ODI World Cup as captain: "
I can't take too much credit for many of them [Australia's great record at ODI World Cup]. There are a couple of boys that were there in 2015, which obviously gives us confidence. But yeah, I don't know. I think we had a really strong year in the early 2000s. I think one-day cricket is a format that's really suited Australian teams of the past. Not only taking the game on with the batting and having some good quick bowlers, but even in the field, that early kind of 2000s era, I grew up watching. Yeah, they were amazing, really athletic. So hopefully, we can carry it on. It's a pretty good history we've had in World Cups. So hopefully another one.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam on pressure while playing on Indian soil after a long time: 
I think there is no pressure, the conditions here are similar to Pakistan and Asian conditions. It’s been one week for us and we’ve played some practice and warm-up matches, there is no difference. The boundaries are small. There is no margin for the bowlers. If the bowling is a little bit off, the batsman utilises it. So, there will be high scores. You will have to play accordingly. But we will try to apply our best on the day and execute our best game on the day.

Babar Azam on his team's biggest strength: 
I think our strength is bowling. But as we know, we are playing last three years together. Most of the boys are the same. So, I think our strength is bowling.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on South African players’ experience of playing in India:
I think that's something that's relevant to all the teams. A lot of the teams have guys who play in India, who've done well in India. So, I wouldn't really say it's an advantage for us. I think all really, we can do is the guys who have that experience and knowledge, they can share it amongst the team or use it in terms of our strategies, our plans. But I wouldn't really say it's an advantage unique to us as a team.

Temba Bavuma on how players gearing up for the World Cup:
I think the boys are, well, we are quite excited for the challenge for the next coming weeks. The guys obviously enjoy coming to India and experiencing everything about the cricket, as well as the culture. I think as a team, there's a quiet confidence about the guys who've been playing some good cricket. And we've kind of enjoyed going out and trying to express ourselves. I guess there will be an opportunity for us to do that over the coming weeks and that's exactly what we'll be looking forward to.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka on coming through the Qualifers: 
These are exciting times for us. We have been struggling a lot in the recent past with injuries, but at the same time, we have a good record. You know, as a group, we are looking forward to the World Cup and everyone wants to make a statement that we are there to perform well in this tournament.

Dasun Shanaka on their first game against South Africa: 
Of course, see they [South Africa] are a team that peaks at the right time. But the preparation has been done. I think Maheesh [Theekshana] has joined the camp as well. So yeah, we have got good plans ahead.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan on his team's preparations:
I thought we prepared well. If we talk about the last four years since the 2009 World Cup and 2019 World Cup, we are probably the third or fourth team in the qualifiers point system. So, we have done really well as a group. Now it's time for us to put on a good show in this World Cup and I think our team is ready and also the country is expecting a little more than what we did previously.

Shakib Al Hasan on pressure: I think it [pressure] always inspired me to do better. Personally, I never looked at any stats as long as I'm contributing for the team - the team comes first. That’s the motto throughout my career and that's how I want to go about it. 

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi on his team's spin attack:
We will have more crowds and more support. We are expecting that people will come and support us in the stadium. We have very good quality spinners and the conditions are suitable for us. Also with the batting, I believe in this World Cup we will give a statement about batting — that we can do very good — play very good cricket in the batting department also.

Hashmatullah Shahidi on leading Afghanistan for the first time in the World Cup: 
Our main strength is in the spin department, but I believe we have worked very hard over the last couple of years. We have more strength in batting too. And we did very good in all departments in the past. So, we will try our best here.

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards on their first game against Pakistan:
I think all games in this tournament are going to be tricky. But, yeah, obviously Pakistan's a very good side. For us, we're just excited to get this tournament going — against Pakistan in Hyderabad.

Scott Edwards on playing the World Cup:
It’s obviously a pretty tricky tournament, the Qualifiers especially, so really proud of how the boys went about that. And, yeah, we take a lot of confidence in the way we played there and, hopefully bring that into this tournament.

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