Stuart Broad believes England didn t do well to justify the tag of Number one Test team © Getty Images
London: October 24, 2012
Stuart Broad remembers dismissing Sachin Tendulkar four year back in India, recalls the incident and how he was booed by the crowd for his achievement.
“I’d just bowled him through the gate in front of a crowd of 50,000,” he recalls. “If I’d done that in England, I would have got a polite round of applause and a few ‘Well done, sirs’, instead I got booed and abused.”
Broad stresses the importance of working on one’s mental strength.
“I was 22 and had just dismissed the best batsman in the world and I was getting harassed for my achievement. So when you’re playing in India, you really need to work on your mental strength.”
Broad says he needs to focus on his bowling rather than the crowd.
“I try to stick to what I do whether it’s for my league side in front of 10 people or it’s 110,000 people in Australia,” he says. “Your delivery doesn’t change. You have to focus on what you do. You have to find the best way to take wickets, find the best way to stop them scoring. You’re looking to hit the stumps every time,” Broad was quoted as saying by the Standard.
“You have to keep your usual technique in mind but you have to work out a batsman in every innings,” he says. “You note stuff like they’re putting their foot down slightly differently and adjust your line accordingly. You have to pick at the strengths and weaknesses,” he adds.
Broad has also welcomed star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s return to the England team.
“It’s a shame that it came to such a head, that it exploded in the way it did,” he says.
“The important thing now is all the meetings that are held behind closed doors remain private. The guys are looking forward to getting him back and I’m sure [coach] Andy Flower will know when the right time is for that.”
Broad also admitted that England did not do well to justify the Number one team tag.
“The individual stuff doesn’t bother me at all but I want to be a part of one of the great teams like West Indies in the 1970s and 80s,” he says. “I want people to remember our era rather than what I did or didn’t do.”
“The first half an hour of the First Test is the key,” he says. “If we’re 20-0 at that point, you’ll see me happily sipping a cup of tea on the balcony. Just take Dubai for example. We were six down at lunch and we lost the series 3-0, so that start is very important,” he concluded.
