Mumbai: Kane Williamson, who skippered New Zealand to the Final at Lord’s in 2019, defeating India in the semifinal at Manchester by 18 runs, will be looking for a requiem at Wankhede where he will be leading his team in a different situation, in different conditions and on Rohit Sharma's home ground.
"It's going to be a tough challenge. They (India) are a side that's been playing extremely well, but we also know come Finals time, everything sort of starts again and it's all about the day,” he said at his pre-match presser at the Wankhede today.
Williamson, who has acquired the reputation and tag of being "Kane and Able", looked relaxed and ready for the mid-week big battle. As a team, the Kiwis are known to focus on their cricket and execute precision plans in the middle, charting out their procedures based on keen assessments of the opposition.
“India have been exceptional. If not the best team, one of the best, playing cricket. But on our day when we play our best cricket, it certainly gives us the best chance and comes finals time anything can happen,” he warned.
"Every game in this tournament is a tricky one. Any team can beat anybody on the day, whether that's the quality on both sides or changing conditions. It's great to have got to the final stages and then take a fresh approach because it does start again," he added.
The level-headed Kiwi is not too wired up with the "Underdogs" tag that his team has lived with despite being in five semifinals and a Final of World Cups down the years. His journey to this World Cup at age 33 was mired in heartbreaking injuries pre-tournament due to which he had to sit out of crucial league matches.
And then he broke his thumb and had to sit out of the match even against India. But that has not pulled him down and he is raring to go beneath that laidback demeanour.
"An interesting journey for sure. From the sort of not being a chance to getting close, it becomes a reality, something to target and certainly feeling grateful to be here and then to get back and break my thumb. It's not funny,” he said.
On a more serious note, he talked about the frustration and testing times he faced but felt grateful that it hadn't ruled him out of the World Cup. "So personally, it's great to be here and it's nice to be a part of this tournament. These tournaments are special and world events in India certainly add to that," he said.
Asked about his view on India's six-bowler option on a high-scoring wicket like Wankhede, Williamson said combination constructions are a very personal team thing.
"Every team has a slightly different balance that they rely on and naturally with the injury to Hardik (Pandya), it meant that their balance changed a little bit. That certainly didn't change the outcome of what they were doing so they adjusted nicely and you know our team tends to, or has done in the past anyway, played with a slightly different balance," he pointed out.
He applauded the role play that has been assigned to each Team India player and how that has been working wonders for the Men in Blue. "Guys being familiar with the roles that they have, whether that's with the ball or with the bat and it all goes quite quickly so you're trying to make sure you build on those performances as a team. I've done it better than anybody so far in this competition. As a side, we've done some good stuff too,” he said.
Ticking off the Dharamsala defeat as a thing of the past, something that happened in "pool play", Williamson said knockouts are another thing altogether where strategies are rebuilt from scratch, something the Kiwis will be doing.
“When you get to the finals, things start again. It's on the day. Prior to that, you focus on six weeks of good cricket to hold you in good stead at the back end of round-robin play. It's very difficult for nine games to micromanage that process. It's about how you want to express yourself as a team day in, day out and assess the conditions in front of you and the different oppositions that you keep facing,” he explained.
It’s going into the upcoming semifinal with fresh eyes, he asserted. "Looking to play what's in front of us and the conditions will be different again. That's a big part of the challenge, not only the opposition but the change in venue as well," he added. Amid all the talk of a semifinal coming up wrapped in memories of 2019 – bad for India, good for New Zealand – Williamson said he would much rather look ahead.
“This game will be a bit different. It might be played over one day rather than two, looking at the weather, but at the same time, teams work hard to get to this stage. They have to play a lot of good cricket within the format or the structure of the tournament to get here over such a long period of time,” he said.
Talking about the future of One-Day cricket in the era of even T20 being threatened by a smaller version, Williamson said that playing in the tournament and being involved in world events are always special from a player's perspective, and continuing to provide that context in the sport, whatever the format, is important.
"It is hard to predict the future, but we see that when we do have world events, countries against countries, regardless of the format, there is something quite special. Yes, there will be a balance to strike with the T20 format, which naturally is becoming more on the calendar. But that's a good thing too, it sort of speaks to what people want to watch and ultimately, it's a positive thing for our game,” he concluded.
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