New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson previews their ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final with unbeaten hosts India

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00:00 A lot of questions are going to be asked about India, I think.

00:03 Can you talk about your strengths which you think that you can,

00:06 which can be effective against India day after tomorrow?

00:10 Yeah, look, firstly, it's obviously a big pleasure to be part of the finals.

00:13 I know the team is very excited to get underway in a couple of days.

00:16 And obviously to play at this ground, I've had a few games here

00:20 and it's pretty spectacular crowd.

00:21 So from our point of view, we've been playing some great cricket.

00:24 Looking forward to getting underway in a couple of days.

00:28 Loki, it's the fifth consecutive semi-final appearance

00:34 that's going to happen tomorrow for New Zealand.

00:35 So what is it that makes New Zealand such a contender

00:39 every time they turn up for global events?

00:41 Because bilaterals in the last four years,

00:44 you've lost in India, you've lost in Australia and Pakistan and England,

00:48 bilateral series.

00:49 But what's it that makes New Zealand such a strong contender

00:53 when it comes to World Cups?

00:54 I don't know. I think, yeah, I'd love to know.

00:57 Certainly from our point of view, when we start the competition,

01:00 much like every other team, we're here to win it.

01:02 But of course, we know there's a process.

01:04 And I think certainly within our team, we've played a lot of cricket together

01:08 for a long period of time.

01:10 So we sort of stick to our processes.

01:12 And I know it sounds cliche, but I think it keeps us sort of level headed.

01:16 And naturally, as Kiwis, we tend to stay where our feet are,

01:19 which I think is a positive.

01:22 But yeah, we look forward to big tournaments.

01:24 Obviously, this one being in India is pretty spectacular with the fans,

01:28 the support.

01:29 We've been loving seeing all the New Zealand jerseys around too.

01:31 So that's certainly helping us.

01:34 Yep. Hard work, preparation, planning, everything is fine.

01:38 That is the major chunk.

01:39 But the small part of luck, how important is that?

01:43 Is luck?

01:45 Once again, probably above my pay grade.

01:48 But yeah, certainly, you know, every team here is working extremely hard.

01:51 It's international cricket and it's as good as it gets.

01:54 So we've played some really good cricket along the way.

01:57 And we've had times where we, I guess, from your point of view,

02:01 have had a little bit of bad luck.

02:02 But at the same time, it doesn't matter now.

02:04 We're in the knockout stages and certainly looking forward to a big game

02:08 in a few days.

02:09 But yeah, once again, it's just nice to play here in India with the fans.

02:13 The support we've had both back home and in India has been fantastic.

02:16 You are in 2019 World Cup.

02:19 So do you think so there is going to be any psychological advantage for you?

02:22 And the second part is you guys have missed Matt Henry now.

02:26 How you guys are going to playing your final eyes,

02:29 you're playing 11 with fastballer like you, Tim Southgate and Trent Boult.

02:34 Because you are not looking so good as you were with Matt Henry.

02:39 I think we look good here.

02:43 Matt Henry is obviously a big hole in our side.

02:45 And, you know, we're still a handsome bunch without Matt Henry.

02:49 So I guess I'll take that on the chin.

02:51 But but now from a cricket point of view, you know, Tim Southgate

02:55 brings a lot of experience, obviously being captain of the test team,

02:58 captaining T20s and one days too.

03:00 So I think that experience counts for a lot.

03:02 He's also played a lot in India, which is great, too.

03:04 So obviously pretty disheartened with how Matt Henry exited the World Cup,

03:09 which was such a shame.

03:10 We know injuries always come at the worst time.

03:12 But no doubt he'll be supporting from back home.

03:15 And, you know, Tim Southgate is raring to go.

03:17 So once again, looking forward to it.

03:20 Lucky, would there be a preference to bat first,

03:23 considering how the new ball has behaved throughout this tournament

03:26 at almost every venue under lights?

03:29 How the ball has...

03:30 Would there be a preference and you being a fast bowler,

03:32 would you rather enjoy more if the team that wins the toss,

03:38 if it is yours, if they bat first?

03:41 Yeah, look, I think the stats are probably favoring batting first.

03:45 But at the same time, it's A, not up to me.

03:48 And and B, you know, we have to play the game on the day.

03:51 So whatever it might be, bat or bowl first.

03:54 We've got plans for that.

03:55 And it's important to stick to them.

03:58 Obviously, nice to bowl under lights and always from a bowling point of view.

04:01 Nice to see when the ball does move around a bit and brings us into the game.

04:05 So we'll just have to play it as we see it come game day.

04:08 But I'm looking forward to it.

04:14 Lockie, your views on the Indian pace attack

04:17 and how they have gone through the tournament.

04:20 Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, you played a lot with Shami.

04:23 So your assessment of the Indian pace attack?

04:27 Yeah, good, good attack.

04:29 I think you'd probably struggle to make knockout stages without a good

04:32 bowling attack.

04:32 And, you know, obviously, nice to have Bumrah back from injury.

04:37 It was a tough one for him, but obviously he's back to his great self.

04:43 But yeah, look, it's a strong attack.

04:45 I think all four teams and the sort of knockout stages

04:48 have got a very good pace attack, of course, with good spinners.

04:51 Lockie, Rachin Ravindra has been a phenomenal success.

04:56 So did you guys actually expect him to be such a big hit

05:01 or is it just a huge bonus for you with the bat in particular?

05:04 Yeah, good player, right? Yeah, very good player.

05:07 Now, I've sort of seen Rachin progress from domestic stages

05:12 and played some New Zealand A games with him.

05:14 And I think probably on and off the field, he's got an exceptional attitude

05:18 the way he goes about life, but especially with his cricket.

05:21 He's a huge fan of cricket, but also works hard

05:24 extremely on his batting and bowling.

05:26 And he's been a huge part of our team throughout this World Cup.

05:29 So when you have a team member, I guess, who everyone loves so much

05:33 and then he does really well, then you tend to enjoy that even more.

05:35 So I know he's really looking forward to the event

05:38 coming a couple of days time.

05:40 But it's been awesome to see him develop through this World Cup.

05:42 Lachie, talking about this venue, the matches has been very high scoring

05:47 and, you know, small ground.

05:49 Is this a concern for you as a fast bowler?

05:50 Because, you know, almost 350 runs has been scored in every match.

05:54 Yeah, I feel like a lot of Indian grounds have been high scoring,

05:57 but that's just the nature of, I guess, one day cricket

06:00 in this part of the world.

06:03 But from our point of view, is I guess trying to understand

06:05 what the pitch will be like and try to read what a good score on it is,

06:09 because, of course, those big overs, you know, 10 runs here, 10 runs

06:13 there can cost you at the back end of the innings.

06:15 So from a bowling point of view, we're trying to, I guess, shut down

06:19 those big overs, try to understand what we think is a good total on the score.

06:23 So it's an experience thing.

06:25 It's an assessment thing.

06:27 The pitch will be different again.

06:28 That's the joy of cricket.

06:29 I think we play on a different pitch each time, so it's hard to read two days out.

06:34 But from our point of view, yeah, we've got to adapt as quick as possible

06:37 come Wednesday.

06:39 Hello, Lachie.

06:41 Of all the teams that played India so far,

06:44 you guys have probably pushed them closer than anyone else.

06:47 What was your takeaway from that game and where do you feel

06:50 you need to have to improve to get past them this time?

06:52 Yeah, look, it was a hard fought game.

06:56 You know, I thought that has been extremely well

06:59 to get a great total on that.

07:01 And of course, with one day cricket and playing against India,

07:04 there's a lot of ebbs and flows.

07:05 So I think it's not going to be any different come this game.

07:08 We've just got to tighten up as much as we can.

07:10 I guess can't really provide much more information than that.

07:14 But I guess just as I was saying earlier, just adjust to the wicket,

07:17 see what we think will be a good score and do our best to defend it.

07:20 And if we bat first, you know, try to put runs on the board,

07:23 which we think will be a good score to defend.

07:25 Hi, Lachie. New Zealand made a fantastic start.

07:31 You won the first four matches.

07:32 However, you went on to lose the next four.

07:34 But again, you made a good comeback.

07:36 So during the loss, what was the discussion in the change room

07:39 and how did the team bounce back?

07:41 Yeah, part of tournament cricket, I guess, and certainly World Cup cricket.

07:47 Every team we play here is an exceptional team and have done their homework,

07:50 done their scouting.

07:51 And we had a couple of close games, I guess, that didn't quite go away

07:55 and a rain affected one.

07:56 And I think that's the joy of tournament cricket.

07:58 And nice to bounce back in our last round, Robin, to find ourselves here.

08:02 But I guess from our point of view, you know, those nine games have got us

08:05 to this position and we kind of all start from zero again.

08:07 So come Wednesday, it'll be a good challenge.

08:09 Lachie, given, knowing what happened four years ago in a similar match,

08:14 a World Cup semifinal between India and New Zealand and India losing a very...

08:17 India suffering a very hard, suffering, heartbreaking loss.

08:20 Would you see, would you think a word like revenge would exist in a world,

08:25 in the world where New Zealand are the nicest guy in the cricket field

08:28 and both teams possibly cannot have any feeling of revenge against you guys?

08:32 What would be your take on that?

08:34 Sorry, the last couple of sentences, can you just repeat that?

08:38 Sorry.

08:38 My question is, it's a similar setup given to what happened four years ago

08:41 in India, suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the World Cup semifinal in Manchester.

08:45 Would you think, given your image of nicest guys on the field,

08:49 would any side come at you with the feeling of revenge, per se?

08:52 I know it's a very, it's a word with a very negative connotation.

08:57 I think from your guys' point of view, it's, you know,

09:00 I guess your job to write stories like that.

09:03 But from our point of view,

09:05 I'm not sure I can comment on that.

09:07 But at the same time, look, yeah, four years ago was a pretty spectacular game.

09:12 Over two days, I've never played a one day game over two days.

09:15 It was literally not even in the title.

09:16 So I think playing that game was was pretty incredible

09:20 and obviously very pleasing for us at the time.

09:22 But four years have gone past.

09:23 We've played a lot of cricket in between.

09:25 And, you know, both teams, I'm sure, are raring to go come Wednesday.

09:29 But yeah, I'm not sure, to your question earlier.

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