“The tournament has just started for us, hope to gather momentum on the road”: Nicholas Pooran

On the back of MI Cape Town getting four points, thanks largely to his 15-ball 33, Nicholas Pooran was at the post-match press conference breaking down the match, his innings, his prep and much more. Excerpts.. 

On getting the first win on the board

It’s a relief to get some points on the board to be honest. Even for myself, really happy that I could contribute. Four games, I haven’t scored many runs to my potential. It is one of the reasons we are in this situation as well, to be honest. Tournament has just started for us and we hope we can gather some momentum here on the road. 

Plans for the next game 

We are not thinking too far ahead to be honest. We are trying to take it game by game. Every game is a different situation for us. The rain was around today and we had to adapt to that. Massive win going onto the road as well. We have a couple of days off and it gives us the opportunity. 

On Jason Smith

A lot of talent and potential there. He hits the ball like a West Indian for sure (laughs). There is a lot for him to learn as well. This is a T20 game and it is inconsistent. We are going to get criticized a lot for performances, but for him the most important thing is to learn as fat as possible. He’s just selected for the World Cup and heading into India where conditions would be really favourable to him where spin is going to be bowled. He has everything that can make him do well in those conditions. Really happy to see him smashing it for us. 

On batting at number three 

I always prefer batting higher up the order. We had a conversation that I would bat at number three today. The shorter format worked out in our favour where I could just have an early swing at the bowlers. 

Thoughts on his batting form 

When I hit the ball as hard as possible, I am not batting well. Normally the guys say it is the other way around. I am happy the ball is going over the roof, which is most important. I have been practicing a lot over the last ten years. I have played over 400 T20 games. I have played all over the world. I am just trying to get better in every game. Coming here to South Africa gave me the opportunity to understand these conditions and stamp my authority. For me it is not only about hitting sixes. I pride myself on playing the situation the right way. I know a lot of people see that I hit a lot of sixes but they tend to forget the batsmanship part of it. I want to continue to get consistent and play the situation as well as possible. 

On the pitches in this year’s SA20

I am coming from the Caribbean, all these wickets are good (laughs). The Paarl wicket was good to bat on. Even in the last game, yes we got bowled out for 88 but we didn’t apply any batsmanship as well. If we did apply ourselves and we would have been having a different conversation. We are in this position today because we haven’t taken our responsibility as individual players. But the pitches here are lovely.

On his matchups

Just depends on what is required, who the bowler is, whether there is a matchup. I look to be aggressive against the left arm orthodox. I believe that is my matchup. It gives me the opportunity to strike at 200 or 300. It’s like food, if you don’t eat it, you aren’t getting it again. So I decided to eat my food (laughs). Yes I love to hit sixes, that’s what they pay me for. 

On his preparation over the years 

It’s a lot of hard work. What I do now is just a reflection of all the hard work I have put in over the years. I have been really inconsistent as a batter. There were times I could have hit spin, there were times I could have hit pace, but the other one didn’t work out. For me, just staying consistent in my process and preparation and as time goes along, I understand what is required of me in situations. I just apply myself. I prepare myself for all lengths. When the situation arises in the game, I am ready to apply myself. 

On the quality of the SA20 compared to other leagues 

Being a part of it, playing different leagues, it looks beautiful on television, but it is much better when you are actually playing. When you play at the Newlands and see the Table Mountain, it is every cricketer’s dream. The atmosphere here all over South Africa, fans love their cricket here. The South Africans know their cricket. They don’t bash you as much. When you are standing on the boundary, they support you. The standard is very high. The international players are of good quality and the local players are of a high level as well. 

Whether the SA20 is good preparation going into the World Cup

Playing cricket going into a World Cup is wonderful, but there is a down side. Players need to recover and in this tournament it comes thick and fast. You play every other day. That’s a worry for me going into a World Cup where guys can be mentally tired. There is an opportunity for them to get injured as well. The conditions are completely different as well going to India. It might be good, it might be bad, my advice to all these guys going into the World Cup – just be careful. It’s a tough tournament. It is a high standard tournament as well. Players put their bodies on the line. You never know when you could dive and get injured. You never know when you could run into bowl and pull your hamstring. You never know when a ball could hit your ribs and break it.