“One big over would have put us in control”: Head Coach, Robin Peterson
By MI New York Media
It’s a tough loss. This felt like a proper cat and mouse game, but in the end, ending up on the wrong side really hurts. MI New York’s Head Coach. Robin Peterson, came out for the post-match press-conference, and was asked an entire range of questions. Excerpts ..
On the Kyle Phillips situation
Any player that is drafted, you want to make sure there is a duty of care towards that individual. He isn’t with us currently. I’m sure the ICC are trying to find ways to remedy his situation. We would have loved to have him as a part of the tournament and our squad. Unfortunately that’s not the case. He has some work to do and we will be in touch with him.
Expectations from Morrisville
A lot of the tournament is unknown for everybody really. We are just interested to know about the surface as cricketers. It has an impact on how we select our team and how we strategize. We believe it is a good surface to play cricket on, it is consistent and has a bit of pace. We will know only when we get there though. It has been a great experience playing here in Dallas so far, I am sure in Morrisville it is going to be the same.
On the experience of working with USA players
I think we’ve just got to believe in the players. They’re playing in front of fans and crowds for the first time in their careers. We have a duty of care to help these players develop and become something special for MI New York going ahead. A lot of our international players are fond of the American players and try and interact to give them some knowledge. Until you have come up with solutions, a lot of these games will have reference points. A guy like Shayan Jahangir, he stuck to his script. He played beautifully. With time, he will add a lot more strokes to his game and be more aggressive. Immensely proud of him and he will be a better cricketer in the future.
On leaving Nosthush Kenjige out of the side
First, you have to try and win the game. Rashid coming in, he is a world class spinner. You can’t leave someone like him out. Nosthush bowled beautifully. He is a developing bowler. We are incredibly proud of his performances last night. He is pretty much a student of the game. He understands that he missed out today because of strategy. We brought in Steven Taylor, a leftie to deal with Santner. He also bowls off-breaks which worked. He was able to control a lot of their top players, what we picked him to do. Just a tactical change for strategy. We explained it to Nosh, and he understands. As long as a player understands that and is on board, he knows he has a massive role to play for the franchise going forward.
On the development of local USA players
I think you have to win and develop at the same time. It’s a job we have to do. Players from Associate nations need to become used to the grind and the pressure to perform. It’s a part of their development in this league. We do have a keen development angle and at the top of our mind, we just want to win.
On Shayan Jahangir’s innings
He stuck to his script. He did what he could. He just ran out of steam when he was trying to find the fence. Like I said, he stuck to the gameplan. These place will start creating reference points in such games. Big rivalry against the Super Kings. We are proud of him. He showed character and this innings will stand him in good stead going forward.
The thoughts at the halfway stage
At one point we were pretty confident of controlling the game. We felt we were one big over from totally controlling the innings. But they have good bowlers and a good captain who knows how to shift their bowlers around. The run-out of Pooran and then Pollard soon after rips the heart out of any run chase. Credit to the Super Kings. They played a very basic game plan and stuck to it. Hard losing Polly first ball, when you fit your game plan around players like him.
On how much backing a player deserves
It's a short tournament. You want to give people confidence by giving them opportunity and sound advice. Sometimes you have to make changes. It’s a pity it is not a ten game tournament. That would have been totally different. When you are pushed in a corner like us at the moment, you have to look at different combinations that could work for us and service our needs to qualify.
The wicket-keeping options after Nicholas Pooran goes for national duty
We have Monank Patel who takes the gloves. Shayan is a backup keeper too. They have both been training behind the scenes. We will decide on that.
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