JOIN USOver the moon after his team’s comprehensive 116-run win over Afghanistan on Friday night, England skipper Stuart Broad said that India would be a different challenge when they meet former champions on Sunday. Excerpts.
On India match:
India have got a powerful batting line-up. We know the dangers they offer, they have played a lot of twenty20 cricket domestically and tournament, there’s not a weak side in it really. We have got to play good cricket all the way through to win and that won’t change on Sunday. But one thing I will say, if we play cricket like we did today, the way we went about the things, the passion and the energy we showed in the field, we will be in a good position.
On the nature of pitches: To be honest, I have been a surprised by the wickets. Having watched on television as well… Jacques Kallis was virtually impossible last night with the pace he was bowling. So it’s something that excites me as a fast bowler. Even tonight, with the lights on, it just seemed to kiss through quite nicely and the bounce is never out of your locker. You always feel you can skid one through and the pull shot looks a dangerous shot to play, especially if the pitch is two-paced. So I think the wickets are encouraging to see, certainly as an English side.
On the effect of good preparations: I don’t know whether it was clever planning or whether it happened this way. To be able to come here on the back of playing games in England, a week to prepare before our first game here, has stood us in really good stead. To get the squad together, normally we spend two days together in the middle of June and that’s it for the summer really. It’s been good to have us all together for these couple of weeks. The boys have bonded really well, there’s a great feeling within the squad. That’s the sort of feeling you need to have successful World Cups.