“You could see Pollard’s calmness in the way we played today”: George Linde

After executing a calm, collected 18-ball 31 that got MI Cape Town through in a nervy chase against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Geroge Linde was at the post-match press conference breaking down his innings, the bonus point plan and his how he’s worked on his game in general. Excerpts..  

Thoughts on the match

It was obviously a tough match. They’ve got a very good team, an unbelievable bowling attack and didn’t make it easy for us. Lucky we got the win today. 

On his knock tonight

It is always cool to contribute to the team. I was thinking of the bonus point at that time. It didn’t work out but just glad we did well as a team this time. 

On Kieron Pollard coming into the team

He hasn’t been here long. He has had just one training session yesterday. To have someone like him in the dressing room, who has played over 700 T20 games, to learn from him, to see the calmness he brings into the squad, you could see it in the way we played and the way Nicky (Pooran) captained. Obviously Pollard was here before and I’ve got a good relationship with him. It’s cool to have him here. 

Discussions about going for the bonus point

We did talk about the bonus point at strategy time. We thought about going for the bonus point but obviously they’ve got good bowlers and if we just went for the bonus point, we could have lost the game and it doesn’t look good. We wanted to put pressure on JSK, if they lose tomorrow, we’ve still got a chance. The most important thing was to win this game today. 

On the learnings for the team this season 

This tournament is a quick tournament. There is not a lot of time to relax and think deep about the game where you have to make choices quickly. We’ve learnt a lot of lessons. They way we bowled today, you could see the guys were hungry to succeed for the franchise. 

On being in South Africa’s World Cup squad 

It was obviously very special to me. There’s a lot of cricket to be played before we board that plane. But once we board that plane on the way to the World Cup, it will all start sinking in. We have a great squad. It’s a great opportunity to win the World Cup. I’ve got a good feeling about it. 

On his batting form

With the bat, I thought if you give yourself a little bit of a chance, it makes it easier. I felt calm today for some reason. I knew what I wanted to do. Maybe in the other games, I was a little bit all over the show. I have struggled with the bat in the last two months. I have been working hard on it. This knock will give me a little bit more confidence. I am quite harsh on myself at times. I have definitely learnt a lot in this comp and hopefully the good form continues. 

His preparation ahead of a game 

To be fair, there is always pressure in T20 cricket. It is what you make of it. I have played the game for a long time now. I try not to think about it too far ahead. I try and think about it day by day. When I have a day off, I try and play golf and forget about everything. Once I get back to the hotel, I start focussing again.