Captain Juan James previews host's South Africa semi final U19 World Cup clash with India
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00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:19 OK, thanks everyone.
00:22 Hello, hello.
00:23 OK, thanks everyone for joining us.
00:25 We're joined by South Africa captain Juan James
00:27 for this pre-match press conference
00:28 ahead of tomorrow's semifinal between India and South Africa.
00:32 Juan will be taking questions here from the room in Benoni.
00:35 So shall I start with Kaniso?
00:39 Thank you, Juan.
00:40 I nearly called you James.
00:42 That's what happens when you have a name.
00:44 How excited are you guys about the semifinal,
00:47 considering the patches of excellent performance
00:50 and also a bit of tips that you guys experienced through
00:53 the group stages and the Super Sixes?
00:55 Yeah, we're really excited.
00:56 I think it's the third time in our history
00:58 playing in a semifinal, and it's quite special having a chance
01:01 in South Africa as well.
01:03 Our performances haven't been as we like,
01:06 but the good thing is that we haven't put together
01:09 the perfect performance.
01:10 So hopefully it's going to come in the next two games.
01:13 How special is it to have a semifinal at home?
01:16 I mean, it is the third time that South Africa--
01:19 South Africa hosted this tournament in '98,
01:21 missed out on the final then.
01:24 Again, to see in 2020, it wasn't a great tournament
01:26 for the hosts.
01:27 So how excited are you guys to be playing at home semifinal?
01:31 Yeah, like I said, it's been special playing in front
01:34 of our family and friends.
01:36 I think in Portia especially, the crowd came out
01:39 to support us.
01:39 So hopefully the people come out tomorrow as well.
01:42 Just talk us through Kwennema Pak.
01:44 He's been on the lips of everyone.
01:46 I mean, if you take three fivers in a tournament
01:48 and take 18 wickets in any tournament,
01:50 everyone's going to talk about you regardless of which level
01:53 you're playing.
01:54 Just talk us through how influential he's
01:56 been for the team and how you guys cherish
01:59 having him in the team.
02:00 Yeah, obviously he's a special player like everyone can see.
02:03 So it's obviously great having someone like him.
02:06 It's his third World-- second World Cup.
02:08 So he brings a lot of experience with him
02:09 and he brings a calm head as well.
02:11 He's quite a calm and chilled guy.
02:13 So he brings a lot of calmness to the team as well.
02:16 Just talk us through the strengths of the senior team.
02:20 The operative word to use that they haven't been tested
02:24 through the tournament.
02:25 They've had slow starts here and there,
02:26 but they've accelerated well.
02:27 Are there any other weaknesses you
02:28 may have seen despite the fact that they've been pretty much
02:31 the form team throughout?
02:33 Yeah, we've played them a couple of times prior to the World Cup
02:36 and we've picked up a couple of things.
02:37 I'm not going to mention it now, obviously,
02:39 but we've picked up a couple of things that we want to target.
02:41 So we're really looking forward to tomorrow.
02:44 Just talk us through the improvements
02:46 your middle order needs to make.
02:48 The starts from Steve and Luandre have been excellent,
02:51 but they haven't always been converted by the middle order.
02:54 How important is it for them to put up
02:58 excellent performance for this thing for tomorrow's game?
03:02 I think we're not worrying too much about it.
03:04 I think when they are required to step up, we'll step up.
03:08 So I really feel like tomorrow is going to be our day.
03:11 Thanks, Juan.
03:14 I just want to ask you a couple of questions
03:16 about the venue itself.
03:18 How familiar are you with the conditions
03:20 that Benoni played here much before?
03:23 I think as a collective, we've probably only played
03:25 a couple of games here.
03:27 So not too familiar with the conditions,
03:29 but we have local knowledge that really helps.
03:32 What are you expecting tomorrow's conditions to be like
03:35 in terms of the wicket?
03:36 How do you think it will play?
03:37 This wicket generally has a bit of pace in it.
03:40 Not much turn, although the previous game
03:42 there was a couple of balls that really spun.
03:45 The outfield is generally quite quick as well.
03:48 And it's a high scoring venue.
03:50 So I'm expecting a good cricket game tomorrow.
03:53 Perfect.
03:55 I want to ask as well about your captaincy
03:59 and looking ahead to tomorrow's game.
04:01 What would be the words that you say to the team
04:02 just as you're about to step out onto the field?
04:05 It's going to be a big game for everyone.
04:06 So I just want to understand what you're going to give them
04:09 as words of wisdom.
04:10 Probably just to stay calm.
04:11 I think the team who plays the best of situations,
04:13 the best will probably come out on top.
04:15 So that's probably going to be the word of the day, calmness.
04:18 So just take it ball by ball as well.
04:20 Perfect.
04:20 And can you just sum up the World Cup experience for you
04:23 to date?
04:24 What's it been like playing with this team,
04:27 being together for such a long period of time,
04:30 and looking ahead to the next games?
04:31 Has it been a good experience?
04:32 And are you expecting some more from this team?
04:34 It's been quite a special couple of months together.
04:37 We've really become quite fond of each other.
04:40 And we're really excited.
04:43 And it's been awesome, this tournament.
04:45 To play in a tournament, I guess it's quite something special.
04:49 Brilliant.
04:50 Any other questions?
04:52 [INAUDIBLE]
04:54 Johan, your only loss was against England.
04:57 And it was a rain-affected game.
04:59 What are the lessons that you guys took out of that,
05:02 particularly paying attention to the DLS and awareness?
05:06 Because there's been quite a lot of rain
05:08 in this region these last couple of weeks
05:10 and these last few days.
05:12 It's probably just to play better and smarter cricket.
05:14 I think at stages, we just threw away the game, in a sense.
05:19 So just play smarter cricket, basically.
05:22 OK.
05:27 Thank you, Johan.
05:28 Thank you very much.
05:29 Thank you.
05:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]