18 February - Gqeberha - India player Renuka Thakur post-match press conference
[Reporter]
Congrats on the fiver – you have just taken 5 for 15, in T20 world cups India has the best record, men’s or women’s both combined. Do you know that?
[Renuka Thakur]
Actually I didn’t know that it is the best because I had not thought about 5 wickets, I was just thinking that since quite some time I've not hit the ball on a good area, or taken a wicket. So today I had thought that I will hit at a nice area, the wicket will come automatically.
[Reporter]
One more thing – in the lead up to the World Cup you didn’t get much wickets in power play, even in Cape town – what plans did you have for this track, how had you prepared?
[Renuka Thakur]
Actually I had spoken to Roy, initially he had told me – we had discussed that I'm not being able to take wickets in the power play. So we had practiced for this – how to take wickets. So I had practiced hard for this, today it got executed.
[Reporter]
We had seen that you were throwing outswingers - practice balls one by one, tell us about those discussions. After throwing one ball – he said something like stop, don’t bowl anymore. Tell us a bit about those discussions.
[Renuka Thakur]
Actually we had discussed this one – right now everyone knows that I throw ins swingers, so I spoke to him about that only that the batsman already knows that I'm going to throw an inswinger. So he made me practice for this only that I can throw a straight ball, outswinger and slower ones. That’s how I got the wickets today.
[Reporter]
Renuka Thakur, this group match was considered to be the most important match in England because of the semi-final line-up. It was a brilliant performance. You took 5 wickets and Smriti's performance, Richa’s - But eventually, it felt like the match was very close.
[Renuka Thakur]
Actually, I think the way the wicket was played, it was very good for the balling and the pace attack. So maybe we gave 10-15 runs extra. It was in our favor. But we knew that the match against England would be good. So we were ready for it. So maybe we gave 10-15 runs extra from the balling side.
[Reporter]
The way Richa is batting, has it been disused in the team that she should get more balls?
[Renuka Thakur]
Yes, actually, she was playing well. She was in a very good form. So you can say bad luck. We were left with 10 runs. We didn't think much. We just thought about today.
[Reporter]
Tell us how it feels to work with Troy? Did you learn anything from him that might have benefited you?
[Renuka Thakur]
Yes, definitely. Because a lot of things are like that - he just comes and tells us. We had to hit in that area. Even today, he came and directly said that the wicket is very good. If you want to hit in a good area, you will get wickets on your own. I mean, it's a lot of fun working with him. Like, whenever there is a problem, like I was struggling for so many days that initially I was not able to get the wicket. So I go back and talk to him about it that what the reason is, why I am not getting it. So he helps a lot.
[Reporter]
Looking at you, it seems that you are a very chill person. You are always smiling. But when this phase of struggle comes, when the wickets are not coming, then how do you motivate yourself and how do you get your encouragement from teammates?
[Renuka Thakur]
Actually, everyone wants me to enjoy. Whenever I enjoy, my performance comes out pretty good. So even Troy also tells me to just enjoy. Don't think too much, just enjoy. I mean, it's my nature to smile and go. So I get good confidence. Like, I was not able to do well for a long time. So like, Smriti came to talk about what happened. So that is something that I really like that these people motivate me. It made a lot of difference to me.
[Reporter]
So what do you think was not going well? If you can tell us a little about it, please. And how did Harmanpreet congratulate you?
[Renuka Thakur]
Harry always backs me. If there is a problem, I discuss it with Smriti and Harry that this is not happening. So they not only advise me about bowling, they also advise me about personal things. So those things help a lot. They tell me a lot of positive things.
[Reporter]
In the Australia series, we saw that you were bowling a lot in the death overs. Even today, you scored a final over. What versatility did you bring that you can bowl in the death overs?
[Renuka Thakur]
I actually went back and worked on fitness and yorker. Because in the death overs, yorker and slower ones are more effective. So I try to bowl as much yorker as I can. Yorkers are only thrown when you have good fitness. So I work more on fitness.
[Reporter]
So since you debuted, you have been playing a lot of matches in fast bowlers. Is there any leadership group in fast bowlers? And what is your role as a leader?
[Renuka Thakur]
I really like it a lot when there are many pacers playing, so today I was very happy that there were 3 pacers and the wicket was also very good. So I like to bowl as much as I can.
