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T20 World Cup: After their thrilling win against Zimbabwe, Shai Hope has backed the West Indies in the upcoming matches against South Africa and India in the T20 World Cup. Hope also refused to reveal the spin plans against India and how the focus is on getting wins for the team and not records.

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00:01Let's go, let's go guys, come on, let's go, let's go.
00:04The usual, raising your hands alternately to get your questions in, so it's starting.
00:11Shay, after a performance like that, you know, is that almost kind of the perfect all-round performance or is
00:18there still improvement there?
00:20There's always ways and areas that you can find to improve, but when you get 250 plus on the board
00:25in the T20 game, then you must be happy as a batting unit.
00:28And then with the ball being as clinical as we did in that, especially in the middle phase and power
00:34play.
00:34So, I would call it more of a complete game for us, but if you want to be picky, there's
00:39always areas that you can improve.
00:42Shay, perfect game, you think? And when you picked Gurukesh Moti, he had not played in any of the World
00:49Cup matches before.
00:51What was the conversation with Rostan Chase?
00:55Rostan, we just talked about anything off the field. We spoke about going to the SS factory and those things.
01:02But Moti, he got a little period before I was thinking of the New Zealand series.
01:11And he went home, worked on some skills. You can see he's back to where he was before.
01:16He even added something to his game as well. That wrist spinner has been very, very crucial for us, especially
01:21against the lefties.
01:23But yes, sometimes your time away from the game always gives you a nice chance to just refresh and regroup.
01:29And as I said, work on any small money areas that you may want to focus on.
01:33So, he's in a great space and I can say the same for everyone. I think we're all gelling the
01:38way we want and we're playing cricket when it's necessary.
01:41So, just about to keep that momentum and continue on in this vein.
01:45Hi, Skip. Over here. Just a word on Hitmeyer, like how he has gone about at number three and the
01:51kind of innings he has played against Scotland, the 46 in between and now this innings.
01:56Like, just the role that has been given to you, him, on him.
01:59Yeah, well, he's a quality player. And the way how he's batting, I think sometimes he's kind of wasted down
02:07the bottom in the innings.
02:09He's such a good player. He can bat in all situations, spin pace. And to utilise him in that phase,
02:16he comes out and plays with that freedom that we wanted to play with.
02:19So, he's been an asset for us, especially in this tournament. We gave him the role from South Africa. He's
02:25embraced it.
02:26He started with a bang and he's continued with that great form. So, happy to see him scoring runs.
02:31And everyone supporting me along the way and giving that team, you know, giving the team a big, big score
02:36for the bowlers in defence.
02:37So, I'm happy with that.
02:39Shai, hi. What's the role that you've given yourself in this team up top, along with Brandon King?
02:46In some of the World Cups we used to, we've seen West Indies batters trying to score sixes from ball
02:51one.
02:51Just what's the role that you've given yourself and for Brandon King?
02:55Just to play the situation. And every opposition is different. Every surface is different.
03:02There's no one set way that you can play cricket. That's just how it is.
03:06If it's a good surface, you've got to make sure you put the pressure on the bowlers
03:10because you know that you're going to need, let's say, an extra 20-30 runs with the ball to defend.
03:15So, it's just about playing the situation. There's no set way to go about batting.
03:21That's how we think the better batters around the world go about it.
03:25You know, when conditions are a bit more challenging, you've got to find a way to keep scoring,
03:30whether it's more singles, lower risk shots.
03:34Whereas when the surface is very good and the ball is flying all the players,
03:37Zain can play with a bit more freedom and similarly to what we did today.
03:41So, it's just about playing the situation and adapting.
03:44Captain, five wins on the trot. How do you see this momentum building up for the next two important matches
03:50in the Group 1,
03:52the last two finalists of the last edition? One question and second, was there any talk about the record
03:58which West Indies kind of narrowly missed in terms of setting up the highest total in a T20 World Cup,
04:03254 for 6, the first one being Shilanka's 264 for 6 back in the first edition of the tournament?
04:10Well, those things are beaten back in my mind, yes, but it's not something to really focus on.
04:17You want to get the win. This is the stage of the tournament where you're more focused on playing your
04:22best cricket.
04:23If you do happen to get past those milestones, then you talk about it at the end and guys will
04:28congratulate each other.
04:29But it's definitely not at the forefront. You never go to bat thinking,
04:32OK, I want to score 275 or 350 in a T20 game. It's about getting as many runs as you
04:38possibly can.
04:39And putting the opposition under pressure. And I think the first question, I just believe the way we've been playing
04:46it
04:46certainly gives us a lot of confidence. And like I always say, we've got to stay in the moment.
04:51Yes, we've played well to this stage. But again, we've got another game in a few days and we've got
04:57to make sure we turn up on that day again.
05:00So great, great start. Great confidence booster. And but those games are gone.
05:07You've got to look ahead now. We've got South Africa next and then India after.
05:10So we've got to keep playing our best cricket. If we can get better, continue getting better.
05:14If we're doing what we're doing well, continue doing it.
05:17Two more questions. Or three. Just two more.
05:23Had Maiya celebrated his 50 with kind of a salute. Do you know who that was for?
05:31That's his celebration. You could probably ask him next time you get him in this forum.
05:36So it could be a bit more personal for him. So you could ask him the next time you get
05:41him.
05:43Up next is South Africa in Ahmedabad where they've been based all along except for an odd game in Delhi.
05:50How big a factor would that be considering you all haven't played there?
05:55It's certainly a factor, but having said that, you've still got to play cricket on the day.
06:01Most of the guys in our team, we've played in Ahmedabad several times,
06:05most of them either in IPL or even against India on some occasions.
06:09It wouldn't be alien to us, but still, when you play in a venue for so many games,
06:16in a particular tournament with a short span of time, then you would have an advantage.
06:20It's just reality, but I don't think that would deter us from what we're trying to do.
06:25We've still got to play the same cricket we've been playing and assess as quickly as we can
06:29because that's going to be, I think, the biggest thing for that particular encounter,
06:33especially when you have most of our games here, Wankiri and Kolkata,
06:39it's just about adapting as quick as we can when we go there because they would be more familiar with
06:42the conditions.
06:43Hello.
06:46So, what are the chances of Arafton Chase coming back into the level?
06:51You've got to wait and see. Who knows?
06:54Why I ask this is because if not against South Africa, against India, you know, against India,
07:02because everybody is starting with off spinners.
07:05Yeah, like I said, when you flick the toss and I hand in my team,
07:10then we all know who's playing on that day. So, stay tuned.
07:16Thank you, guys.
07:18We're trying to get the plans in early. No, no, no.
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