Stuart Broad Credits Domestic Cricket For Success against India
Sreelata Yellamrazu: In a message that should ring loudly for some of the Indian cricketers, Man of the Series in the India England Test series, Stuart Broad, has attributed his success to returning to domestic cricket between the Sri Lankan and Indian tour. There was admitt Sreelata Yellamrazu:
In a message that should ring loudly for some of the Indian cricketers, Man of the Series in the India England Test series, Stuart Broad, has attributed his success to returning to domestic cricket between the Sri Lankan and Indian tour.
There was admittedly some confusion about Broad’s role in the England team, with the suggestion that Broad may have misplaced his objective under the premise that he was the enforcer in the team and had to intimidate batsmen to earn wickets. Stuart Broad was far from impressive when Sri Lanka toured England just before India landed in England. In that light, Broad was not even certain of retaining his place in the England team.
For Broad to then bounce from a poor series against Sri Lanka and injury riddled indifference from the brief Ashes stint to take twenty-five wickets in the four Test series as he displayed the full range of his all rounder skills against India was quite remarkable, not to mention match winning. While Broad’s batting was a rescue act in the first two Tests along with his bowling, it was his latter that ultimately impressed and undid the Indian team into conceding a 4-0 series victory for England while also handing over the no.1 Test ranking.
Broad though makes a significant point about his inspired return to the time he had to go back to domestic cricket to play for Nottinghamshire when he did not play the final ODI against Sri Lanka. Instead Broad reportedly spent time with the domestic team as well with the local coaches who helped him figure out the direction in which to proceed further towards ensuring permanency of his post and integral role for the England cricket team.
That short stint apparently made the world of difference to Broad’s game because time away from the rigours of international cricket helped him figure out his USP as well as point the direction in which to expend his energies. That the game plan worked out beautifully against India only suggests that Broad used the short time between the end of the Sri Lankan tour and the start of the Indian tour to advantage by returning to domestic cricket, for which the Indian cricketers rarely seem to have time for given their jam packed schedule.
The value of returning to domestic cricket if only to break the routine of thought processes of playing at a certain level and give Stuart Broad to step back and return to the basics from where he was able to pick his cues from the most basic but necessary thinking. Speaking to people other than those he regularly encountered in the England dressing room also gave him the chance to return to the kind of thinking that elevates cricketers from domestic ambitions to international opportunities, which is precisely what Broad used to his advantage rather magnificently at a time when the pressure on him seemed more intense than ever.
Although it bodes well that domestic cricket should be robust enough to provide that kind of fillip, that a player is still able to walk away with priceless wisdom even within such a short time suggests that there are ways to pick one’s moments even when it is considered the player may have returned to square one. Broad has shown that that is not a bad place to be.