I never thought we'd lose this game at any point in time: Bravo
Kemar Roach says he was desperate to do well against Pakistan, says his rhythm helped him make the early breakthroughs.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: June 08, 2013 06:07 PM IST
Can you just talk real quick about your play early in the morning? How you felt about the conditions and what do you think helped you?
KEMAR ROACH: Today was very good for me. My rhythm was on today, so I attacked the crease very well, and I got the ball to do a bit early on. So that helped me to get a couple early wickets. So the captain could put some pressure on him and they could reach 170.
You have always done well against Pakistan, is there something special that pushed you today against Pakistan?
KEMAR ROACH: Well, they're rated very highly, so I always want to do well against them. So that strives me to do even better than normal. When it comes to Pakistan, so just want to go out there and give my best shot.
What was your view of that catch that wasn't by the wicketkeeper?
KEMAR ROACH: I thought he caught it. I really thought he caught it. But the square umpire thought differently. That's an issue for them to deal with, and we'll see what plays out from here.
On that drop catch, what actually goes through a bowler's mind when you're bowling so hard and the keeper drops a catch like that?
KEMAR ROACH: The moment is like, oh, you know, everybody catches it, but it's all about cricket. You make mistakes. No one goes to drop a catch, but it happens, so you just have to accept it and move on and be professional about it.
Misbah mentioned that he thought that catch wasn't in the spirit of the game. Is that spirit of the game something you believe in? Do you feel it was employed today?
KEMAR ROACH: I have no comment against that, obviously. As I said, I thought he caught it, and the square umpire thinks differently, so that is an issue for them to deal with.
This victory, how much of a boost is it to the team? Do you think that this is a small total with the run rate under 4, still your batting struggled a bit?
DWAYNE BRAVO: Yes, we didn't make the best use of chasing a small total, but you can't take away anything from the batters. You know, the Pakistanis bowled very well. You have to give respect to them. Most of the batters got good balls, but at the end of the day, we still fight through.
It was a tough situation and we came out on top and that's more important. It doesn't matter if you lose eight or nine wickets, we got the two points that we wanted, so this game was very important to us. We know Pakistan is a very dangerous team so we're happy to end up on the winning side and hope this definitely will do our confidence very well. We won our last warm-up game and to win this first game, so that's two wins and hopefully we can continue in the same vein.
This is your first ICC tournament as a captain. So how do you feel starting and winning?
DWAYNE BRAVO: It's a great personal achievement for me, but more so I would not be able to do what I did today without the assistance of my teammates, Chris Gayle, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (KieronPollard), they all shared a lot of information and it helped me. As I said, I'm very happy to have those guys on the team so that they also can control the game.
It's not all about me as a captain. It's how we all come together and try to make the best decision at the right time for the team. So, yes, I'm happy with a win. And like I said, West Indies normally don't start well in tournaments like this, so it's important that we get our first win out of the way and look forward to the rest of the games ahead.
Great performance from your team today. Kemar brought you early wickets and they just came in like leafs falling one by one. Did you really think realistically that you could get them out at 170?
DWAYNE BRAVO: Well, this morning if I said Pakistan are going to be out for 170, I would take that any day. I wouldn't have thought this morning. We wanted to bowl first as a team. I know I have two very good fast bowlers and once they put the ball in the right area and pitch up the ball, obviously, they will have wickets.
The new ball is very important. There are two new balls so there is pressure on both ends. Roach got the wickets, but Rampaul also built pressure on the other end. So I think it's important that the bowling partnership we planned very well, and it was good to see we executed our game plan. We kept putting pressure, kept looking for wickets. Like I said in my previous press conference, I'm an attacking captain by nature, so therefore I'll be setting attacking fields and we have the right bowlers to do the job.
We can't forget Sunil Narine also. So it started with Kemar Roach. To have a weapon like Sunil there to come and bowl in the middle and bowl in the Power Play, it's fantastic. It's a great team effort for all the bowlers. Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard ... so those tough situations we were under pressure with the bat, but it's good to see we've come out of that situation victorious.
Dwayne, you mentioned Ramdin before; the Pakistan captain suggested it was the catch or the catch that wasn't acting in the spirit of the game.
DWAYNE BRAVO: Well, as Kemar said, Denesh honestly thought he had control of the ball. By rights the umpire had another look and the replay showed he did not. So we don't play the game like that. History shows we've never had anything negative against us unlike other teams.
So, Denesh, as I said, thought he had full control of the ball. There is nothing that he can add control over, and I don't see anything wrong with it. He claimed the catch, and it's by right the umpire looked up. Unfortunately, he did not catch it. But as I said, we have been true in our cricket careers and history has shown that we play the game in true spirit of the way it should be played. I don't think we did something like this deliberately.
Are you happy he acted honestly?
DWAYNE BRAVO: Yes, he's a very honest player, and as I said, history shows if you check the records that we don't have any stigma or negatives around us as a team.
How tough was it to drop a player like Darren Sammy, the World Cup captain? And what was the plan behind that?
DWAYNE BRAVO: Well, the plan was coming up against our position that is the strength of their bowling, so therefore we want to make sure that we strengthen our batting, and in these conditions batting is not going to be easy. It's a tough luck to Darren, being a former captain. But I think the way we feel like our 11 is based on the opposition. You never know. Coming against India you might see some more changes.
So Tino Best is one of the fastest bowlers in the world also got left out. So we picked the best 11 suited for the opposition, and next game you never know what can happen.
How impressed were you with how tentatively Gayle played early on with the two new balls he was quite controlled for his normal self?
DWAYNE BRAVO:No, as expected, you have someone who is coming from seven-feet plus. Doesn't matter how good a batter you are, it's not going to be easy to hit. Got to give credit to Chris. He's toughed out the situation; he survived the new ball, and then he started a partnership with Marlon. Saeed Ajmal got the better of him, but like I said, I was more happy to see him survive that tough situation with both new balls. You can't take anything away from them.
Chris survived it, and it's good to see him spend some time in the middle order, so that will do well for his confidence and hopefully come later in the tournament he's going to do something dangerous.
India batted brilliantly yesterday against South Africa. Do you think you have the firepower to contain them?
DWAYNE BRAVO:Yes, I do, and like I said, it's another tough game of a team coming up against a team where their strength is their batting. And we have the right bowlers, the right bowler on our team to actually control their batting. But like I say, cricket is played on its day. India could turn up on Tuesday and be knocked over, or score a big total again as they normally do.
But I have the right attack if I want to go with someone with raw pace. I have the reserve bench that is strong enough to actually come up with the 11 that I think will do well against the Indians.
Back to today's match. Chasing 171, you were like 143 for 7. What was the anxiety level at that time? Were you thinking that you might lose it from there?
DWAYNE BRAVO: No, to be honest, I never thought we'd lose this game at any point in time. Chasing 173, we have been through tougher situations than this and come out on top. So like I said, Rampaul has yet to bat. He has international cricket, Kemar Roach batted well and so did Denesh. At no point did we feel like we were under pressure.
Yes, the game came down to the last, but it's good to come out victorious. The next game, you never know. Both teams can score in excess of 300 runs, I think. Today were conditions good for seam bowling, good fast bowling by both teams. And you've got to give credit to bowlers when they bowl well. And look at the India-South Africa game, both teams scoring over 300 plus runs. So different conditions, different surface, and hopefully come the game Tuesday, let's see what happens.