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25 June - Birmingham - Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood pre-match press conference
Q. Azhar, New Zealand is top of the table, and because of last season in the UAE, the two teams know each other very well, strengths and weaknesses. You're working with the bowlers now. How do you see tomorrow's match?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: They're definitely a very strong side. They won all of their games. So we know they're a strong side. If we can do our discipline right, like we did last game -- batting, bowling, and fielding. Our ground fielding was really good, but unfortunately we dropped a lot of catches. If we do our discipline right, we can beat any side.
Q. What particular areas of New Zealand's game are you going to target and are you going to exploit? Where do you think they are most vulnerable?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: They are a quality side. They've got a match spinner on their side. So with the ball, you know, it's crucial for us to take a wicket with the new ball. And when we bat, we need to get runs up front. So our top three is the most important for us. If we do our basics right, it's just about us, not about them. We need to do our things right.
Q. Azhar, did you see last match New Zealand was struggling with the spinners. Would you use spinners more than fast bowlers?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: We haven't seen the pitch yet. We play two spinners anyway, and in our side, Haris can bowl as well and Hafeez. So we've got almost four spinners on the side. We'll see the pitch and assess the condition, and then we can use one thing against New Zealand. Change of pace is crucial.
Q. Azhar, at the Champions Trophy, Hasan Ali was your most successful bowler. After that, he used to take a lot of wickets. As the bowling coach, what do you think has gone wrong with him.
AZHAR MAHMOOD: I think everyone in cricket, whether you're a batsman or a bowler, you have bad form. I think he's having a bad form. So he's low on his confidence. I think he got a self doubt on his own ability. So he's running in, and he's working hard on and off the field. You can see that. But it's just a matter of getting two, three wickets, and he'll be back.
Same thing happened to Amir, you know. After Champions Trophy, Amir was struggling, but he was bowling well. Now you see that he's having a good time. So it's same thing happened to Hasan Ali as well.
Q. This will be your first match at the World Cup at Edgbaston. What do you make of the pitch out there at the moment? It's very flooded, looks a little bit like a swimming pool out there. How is that going to affect your game?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: Oh, we haven't seen the pitch yet, so I can't comment on that. We played in this ground before in Champions Trophy. So we know the condition really well. We'll find out tomorrow morning how the pitch look like. Maybe it's like the game played here was a slightly drier pitch. So let's see under cover. Maybe overcast condition tomorrow. So we'll find out tomorrow.
Further quotes from the presser:
"We haven't seen the pitch yet. Shaheen bowled well in the last game, we need to be more consistent. We have a habit of chopping and changing if performances are iffy, we need to give our players confidence. I think Shaheen bowled well, I don't think we will replace him with Hasnain. We'll decide tomorrow if we want to play 4 pacers"
"New Zealand's team has been playing regular cricket since a while and we've played a lot against them so we know their strengths and weaknesses"
"Amir was bowling really well but his wicket column was empty, after CT his economy throughout was the best. He has started pitching the ball up now and he's allowing himself to swing the ball which is crucial for us. He's taking wickets now which is key, he got Hashim out with the new ball in the last match. He has the ability and skills to take wickets"
"Shaheen was the one bowler who was giving us wickets with the new ball when Amir wasn't doing it"
"Amir is a wonderful bowler, Starc has more pace than him. I think Trent Boult and Mohammad Amir are similar kind of bowlers, both have ability and bowl well at all stages of the match, they are all top bowlers"
"We have the ability to win the remaining matches, you have to take your preparations into the match which we don't do sometimes. In our previous match our body language, attitude and hunger was visible and showed we wanted to win which is most important for us"
"Dropped catches are part of the game, we have dropped 14 in the World Cup but England have also dropped 10. Anyone can drop catches, no one wants to drop catches. It's a matter of confidence, when you drop one and think about it then the ball comes again towards you. We have to trust the players and it's up to them to perform once on the field"
"Morale of the group is high, SA was a strong team. We have to work on our discipline and be consistent in all aspects. We aren't worried about anything else, we want to focus on what we're doing"
"We definitely have a chance (of qualifying) depending on results but we're focused on winning our own matches and then we'll see what happens"
"NZ in their history in World Cups win a lot of matches but in crunch situations in SFs or QFs they often fail to perform well, it can happen with anyone. Everyone has to have a bad day and hopefully New Zealand have a bad day tomorrow"
"Today was an optional practising day, Shoaib Malik came to the ground today but he didn't go for the indoor practice. He has usually preferred outdoor practice, everyone has their own choices and it's an optional session. The bowlers didn't come either, Amir was there but he didn't bowl, Babar also didn't come"
"There are a lot of similarities between 1992 and this World Cup but we aren't thinking about that. In the 1999 World Cup, Australia was in a similar situation to our situation now, they couldn't afford to lose any matches. Every match is like a final for us, we know if we don't perform well we can be knocked out"
"If someone critiques us politely, we are professionals. If we do well, we will be appreciation and we can be criticised if we don't do well, that's fair enough. But personal attacks shouldn't be done, it's just a game. No one is more saddened then us as players and management. The whole country is watching us and it's very disappointing for us to lose. My request to people is to not be personal and to criticise based on cricket"
"There is so much media pressure, no one says anything positive. Haris played an extraordinary innings and then Mickey was asked why was he tired after 70 mins. For God's sake, say some positive things too. This is why a person feels like committing suicide, like eating poison. No one says anything positive, if you see something positive then there's some point of living. If we lose, it's as though the world has come to an end"
Q. Azhar, New Zealand is top of the table, and because of last season in the UAE, the two teams know each other very well, strengths and weaknesses. You're working with the bowlers now. How do you see tomorrow's match?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: They're definitely a very strong side. They won all of their games. So we know they're a strong side. If we can do our discipline right, like we did last game -- batting, bowling, and fielding. Our ground fielding was really good, but unfortunately we dropped a lot of catches. If we do our discipline right, we can beat any side.
Q. What particular areas of New Zealand's game are you going to target and are you going to exploit? Where do you think they are most vulnerable?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: They are a quality side. They've got a match spinner on their side. So with the ball, you know, it's crucial for us to take a wicket with the new ball. And when we bat, we need to get runs up front. So our top three is the most important for us. If we do our basics right, it's just about us, not about them. We need to do our things right.
Q. Azhar, did you see last match New Zealand was struggling with the spinners. Would you use spinners more than fast bowlers?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: We haven't seen the pitch yet. We play two spinners anyway, and in our side, Haris can bowl as well and Hafeez. So we've got almost four spinners on the side. We'll see the pitch and assess the condition, and then we can use one thing against New Zealand. Change of pace is crucial.
Q. Azhar, at the Champions Trophy, Hasan Ali was your most successful bowler. After that, he used to take a lot of wickets. As the bowling coach, what do you think has gone wrong with him.
AZHAR MAHMOOD: I think everyone in cricket, whether you're a batsman or a bowler, you have bad form. I think he's having a bad form. So he's low on his confidence. I think he got a self doubt on his own ability. So he's running in, and he's working hard on and off the field. You can see that. But it's just a matter of getting two, three wickets, and he'll be back.
Same thing happened to Amir, you know. After Champions Trophy, Amir was struggling, but he was bowling well. Now you see that he's having a good time. So it's same thing happened to Hasan Ali as well.
Q. This will be your first match at the World Cup at Edgbaston. What do you make of the pitch out there at the moment? It's very flooded, looks a little bit like a swimming pool out there. How is that going to affect your game?
AZHAR MAHMOOD: Oh, we haven't seen the pitch yet, so I can't comment on that. We played in this ground before in Champions Trophy. So we know the condition really well. We'll find out tomorrow morning how the pitch look like. Maybe it's like the game played here was a slightly drier pitch. So let's see under cover. Maybe overcast condition tomorrow. So we'll find out tomorrow.
Further quotes from the presser:
"We haven't seen the pitch yet. Shaheen bowled well in the last game, we need to be more consistent. We have a habit of chopping and changing if performances are iffy, we need to give our players confidence. I think Shaheen bowled well, I don't think we will replace him with Hasnain. We'll decide tomorrow if we want to play 4 pacers"
"New Zealand's team has been playing regular cricket since a while and we've played a lot against them so we know their strengths and weaknesses"
"Amir was bowling really well but his wicket column was empty, after CT his economy throughout was the best. He has started pitching the ball up now and he's allowing himself to swing the ball which is crucial for us. He's taking wickets now which is key, he got Hashim out with the new ball in the last match. He has the ability and skills to take wickets"
"Shaheen was the one bowler who was giving us wickets with the new ball when Amir wasn't doing it"
"Amir is a wonderful bowler, Starc has more pace than him. I think Trent Boult and Mohammad Amir are similar kind of bowlers, both have ability and bowl well at all stages of the match, they are all top bowlers"
"We have the ability to win the remaining matches, you have to take your preparations into the match which we don't do sometimes. In our previous match our body language, attitude and hunger was visible and showed we wanted to win which is most important for us"
"Dropped catches are part of the game, we have dropped 14 in the World Cup but England have also dropped 10. Anyone can drop catches, no one wants to drop catches. It's a matter of confidence, when you drop one and think about it then the ball comes again towards you. We have to trust the players and it's up to them to perform once on the field"
"Morale of the group is high, SA was a strong team. We have to work on our discipline and be consistent in all aspects. We aren't worried about anything else, we want to focus on what we're doing"
"We definitely have a chance (of qualifying) depending on results but we're focused on winning our own matches and then we'll see what happens"
"NZ in their history in World Cups win a lot of matches but in crunch situations in SFs or QFs they often fail to perform well, it can happen with anyone. Everyone has to have a bad day and hopefully New Zealand have a bad day tomorrow"
"Today was an optional practising day, Shoaib Malik came to the ground today but he didn't go for the indoor practice. He has usually preferred outdoor practice, everyone has their own choices and it's an optional session. The bowlers didn't come either, Amir was there but he didn't bowl, Babar also didn't come"
"There are a lot of similarities between 1992 and this World Cup but we aren't thinking about that. In the 1999 World Cup, Australia was in a similar situation to our situation now, they couldn't afford to lose any matches. Every match is like a final for us, we know if we don't perform well we can be knocked out"
"If someone critiques us politely, we are professionals. If we do well, we will be appreciation and we can be criticised if we don't do well, that's fair enough. But personal attacks shouldn't be done, it's just a game. No one is more saddened then us as players and management. The whole country is watching us and it's very disappointing for us to lose. My request to people is to not be personal and to criticise based on cricket"
"There is so much media pressure, no one says anything positive. Haris played an extraordinary innings and then Mickey was asked why was he tired after 70 mins. For God's sake, say some positive things too. This is why a person feels like committing suicide, like eating poison. No one says anything positive, if you see something positive then there's some point of living. If we lose, it's as though the world has come to an end"
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