England vs India 2021: "Loose Shots, Wickets In Clusters"- Stuart Broad Analyses India's Poor Batting Performance

England seamer Stuart Broad has shared views on the Indian batting collapse in the Headingly test in an Instagram story and questioned India’s batting plans after winning the toss. India could manage just 78 in their first innings in the third Test against England and it was a completely different performance after the spirited Lord’s victory.

England had done their homework well before the third test and it was clearly visible in the morning session when they kept on hitting the right lengths. The Indian batsmen had no answers to England’s bowling efforts and it was complete dominance from the England team.

Stuart Broad Feels India Did Not Play The Conditions Well

Stuart Broad felt that India’s batting has to be questioned following their poor performance in the first innings. He stated that losing wickets at regular intervals and not reading the conditions well were two main factors in India’s poor performance. He added that the England bowlers need to be given credit for keeping the pressure going from both ends which created the downfall for the batsmen.

“Of course when a team is bowled out for under 100, you have to question the batting. Loose shots, wickets in clusters, not playing the conditions well enough,” 

“But the bowlers applied great pressure and didn’t give away any free runs. And then, when the wickets came, the scoreboard hadn’t moved.” wrote Broad.

Stuart Broad Explains The Importance Of Starting Well At Headingly

Stuart Broad mentioned the impact of the loss in the second test after having controlled the game for most sessions to have been really high and added that the big break has helped England in recovering from the loss. He praised the batting efforts from the openers as well to show a lot of resistance.

“We had a really low week at Lord’s, certainly the last day, but we had a good few days off to let that pass and concentrate on good things we did. We played well for four days there and came here hungry and ready to show fight. We did that with the ball, the whole attack did really well. Then the two guys with the bat showed so much skill and fight. We knew it’s an important Test so wanted to start well.” He added

England will start day two on 120 for no loss with a  lead of 42 runs with both openers reaching the half-century mark.

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