South Africa Coach Rob Walter on their world cup humbling by dominant India
South Africa Coach Rob Walter on their world cup humbling by dominant India
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00:00 Obviously things went wrong out there, but why did they go wrong?
00:07 To be fair, it was a day that we were out-skilled really. I didn't feel that was a 320 pitch.
00:14 They obviously got off to a flyer. We pulled it back nicely. I thought Kesh had bowled
00:28 beautifully today along with KG. 320 was too much on that deck. From a bowling point of
00:36 view, they put us under pressure right from the word go. Couldn't claw our way back in
00:41 and, as I said, just got out-skilled on the day.
00:45 Rob, I just wondered about the nerves that appeared to be on display at the start of
00:52 the match. There was a lot of talk from three or four of the players before the game about
00:59 it just being another game of cricket, which evidently it wasn't going to be. You're playing
01:04 India in a World Cup game at Eden Gardens in front of 70,000. I just wondered whether
01:11 that was a deliberate thing to try and treat it like a normal game of cricket rather than
01:15 impress the fact that it obviously wouldn't be.
01:18 To be dead honest, in the lead-up to the game as well as just before the game, I didn't
01:24 have a sense of the guys being overawed or nervous by the situation. The whole thing
01:29 we spoke about this week was actually being excited by the occasion. It's not very often
01:35 you get to play at a full Eden Gardens against India in a World Cup. From that point of view,
01:42 it was exciting for me more than anything else. I genuinely felt that the players were
01:46 excited by the occasion. I can't speak for them individually, but I didn't get a sense
01:52 of a huge amount of nerves prior to the game. That said, our execution probably let us down
01:58 more than anything else and put us on the back foot.
02:01 Rob, if you were to meet this Indian team again, I know there's still a lot that needs
02:11 to happen for that, from today's game, do you have a sense that there are areas that
02:18 you can target them or do they feel a bit unbeatable at the moment?
02:25 They're a hell of a team. Very well balanced and highly skilled. There's no way around
02:31 it, they've won every game and they've won it well. You have to believe that on a day
02:37 if you execute your skills, you've also got a chance. We just didn't right from the
02:41 word go. We know already what Michael Youngston can do with a new ball. Today was an off day,
02:49 the guy's a young guy playing in the World Cup, he's played seven excellent games to
02:54 point and didn't have a great start today. Could just as easily bowl very well the next
02:59 time we find ourselves against him if we're able to. This game is a funny game, you get
03:05 taught new lessons every single day and get surprised every single day. It wouldn't
03:12 surprise me if the tables turned the next time around. The beauty of it is that there
03:17 may well be another shot for us and we've been given an opportunity to learn from that.
03:22 Is there any room to say that maybe things aren't so bad because you didn't beat yourselves
03:32 as South African teams have done in the past, that you were completely clapped by a vastly
03:38 superior team or is that just mission statement talk?
03:43 No, the scoreboard will tell you everything you need to know. India were far superior
03:49 than we were today, there's no two ways about that. Just like we've played in this tournament,
03:56 we've been far superior than other teams that on a piece of paper look evenly matched or
04:02 potentially superior. Once you get your nose in front in international cricket, I believe
04:09 that anyone can beat anyone. Today, the Indian side got their nose in front, a highly skilled
04:14 team and we weren't able to get back into the game.
04:17 You spoke about Marco being young and he's had such a good game so far, how will you
04:31 handle him after this now? This was a really tough lesson for him and he came apart a little bit.
04:37 To be honest, it's a gift, isn't it? Being able to run out in front of 75,000 in a game
04:43 like today and so many learning opportunities out there. Fortunately for us, today wasn't
04:50 a must-win fixture, it was just an opportunity to play against a really good team. He struggled
04:57 today, but as I said, he's got the skill set to bounce back and be effective the next time
05:02 around. What he does have now is the value of having already run out, competed, felt
05:07 what it's like to be in a cauldron with 70,000 people cheering against you. He'll have that
05:14 as experience, it's invaluable. You can't get that anywhere else but here.
05:22 You mentioned that it probably wasn't necessarily your guys' fault, it was just how the results
05:30 panned out. This game turned into more of an exhibition where you could showcase your
05:37 skills instead of being a must-win. Do you think that did weigh on the guys' minds, the
05:43 fact that the semi-final is secured now and two-pronged? Do you believe now that four
05:50 days in between the Afghan game might actually be a good thing after the lessons that were
05:54 learned here?
05:55 I think if you walk into that changing room now, you're going to find a group of guys
06:00 highly disappointed that we weren't able to pay tribute to what was an awesome occasion,
06:06 a great opportunity for us to showcase our skill. We played so well throughout this entire
06:10 World Cup and we would have wanted nothing more than this to be a great contest. As far
06:19 as the next four days go, for us it's really about doing what we've done the whole time,
06:25 using the time we've got available to us to get ready for the next fixture and then into
06:31 a semi-final. Nothing changes there. The guys have worked incredibly hard to this point.
06:37 We've worked incredibly hard on our game, invested a huge amount of time into our preparation
06:42 and so now it's really about just mentally recovering, physically recovering and being
06:46 ready to compete and compete like we have the whole tournament.
06:49 Do you think that the pitch is the key factor so that the batting strength of South Africa
07:00 succumbs to the spin attack of the Indian squad?
07:03 I think it would be very short-sighted and unfair of me to blame the pitch. One side
07:10 gets 320 and we get bowled out for 80. That doesn't sound right, does it? To be fair,
07:18 as I said, 320 was too much on that pitch. I think we'll all reflect on that and say
07:24 that was probably 70 or 80 too many. But on the other side, I think India were excellent
07:30 and I wouldn't blame the pitch on that part.
07:33 Any last questions?
07:35 Rob, I know there's been questions about nerves. I'm sure between in the innings
07:55 break and two of the innings you might have had a chat with your bowlers. Was it actually
08:00 nerves or did they come across something they didn't expect because India have been starting
08:06 really quickly? What was it in those first ten overs? Because after that you actually
08:11 pulled them back pretty well.
08:14 Look, I think the one thing that was different today certainly is we've been able to swing
08:21 the ball, the new ball, and most of the time we've been doing it at night. So we were bowling
08:27 first so there wasn't as much swing as we've been used to. But along with that our execution
08:32 was off. And with that if you've got a guy like Rohit Sharma who's on the other end,
08:37 if you miss your areas, you're going to fetch. And we did. So 91 after 10, you're behind
08:43 the eight ball already. And then you're busy clawing back from there, which we did. I thought
08:48 we did exceptionally well. As I said, Keshav was outstanding today and KG as well.
08:53 So, yeah, I don't want to look too far or too more deeply into it than that.