Eng Vs Ind Last Test Broad Comments

Broad wants a 4-0 whitewash

AP England all-rounder Stuart Broad wants the home team to go for the jugular in the last Test.

Having replaced India as the No 1 Test side in the world after going up 3-0 in the four-match rubber, England pacer Stuart Broad said his team will strive to inflict complete a 4-0 whitewash on M.S. Dhoni’s men.

“There are a lot of challenges ahead of us, but the immediate one is to win this series 4-0. That’s what we will be striving for from Thursday,” said Broad.

He credited the Edgbaston win to a perfect team work but added his team had no right to win at the Trent Bridge.

“Edgbaston was close to the perfect team performance.

And in many ways we had no right to win at Trent Bridge after the first two days but India gave us a sniff and we piled in through the open door,” the speedster said.

Broad attributed their climb to the top of Test rankings to long years of hard work and reiterated that a lot of credit must go to the support staff and Test captain Andrew Strauss.

“It seemed so far away, the permutations so difficult to achieve. Now here we are, little more than two-and-a-half years later, and we are on top of the world,” Broad wrote in his column in the ‘Daily Mail’

“A huge amount of credit for this has to go to Flower and Strauss. It is the players who step on the field and have to be judged but the amount of preparation and hard work that has gone into this achievement is phenomenal,” he added.

Broad revealed the great thing about their bowling unit was that they take pleasure in each other’s successes.

“What odds would you have got on India failing to reach 300 in six innings in the first three Tests with their array of batting superstars? The great thing about our bowling unit is that we genuinely take as much pleasure in each other’s successes as our own.

“Some people say they are disappointed that India haven’t made more of a fight of this series. Well, perhaps we haven’t allowed them to,” the 25-year-old insisted.

Broad, who was close to being dropped before the first Test, said the management and selectors are very good at showing faith in those they believe can do the job.

No Changes England For Last Test

England squad unchanged for last Test

Still in celebration after the 3-0 series victory and its confirmed rise to the top of Test cricket, England named an unchanged squad for the fourth Test scheduled to begin next Thursday at the Oval in London.

With Jonathan Trott yet to recover fully from the shoulder injury he sustained at Trent Bridge, Ravi Bopara will get another chance to impress the England selectors. He was perhaps the only cricketer not to enjoy the third Test, in which England outplayed India.

“We've not had everything our own way in this series,” England captain Strauss said after the victory. “We've dominated this Test in particular, but there were times in the first two when we were behind. But as often happens, confidence becomes a factor in the second half of a series, and we've become more confident as we've gone on, and used that in our favour.

“In your own conditions you've got to back yourself to beat anyone, especially if you want to be the best in the world. We've achieved that through a lot of guys standing up and delivering when it matters.”

Asked about becoming No.1, Strauss said: “This series is very much about measuring ourselves against the best in the world, and hopefully having the opportunity to overtake them. We're very proud of the way we've performed in the last three games — we've been very close to our best, so we are very satisfied with what we've achieved and delighted to have gone to No. 1 ourselves.”

He did sound a word of caution, however. “I don't think this is an end in itself,” he said. “Just bear in mind there are a number of other teams anxious to have this mantle to be the No. 1 side.

“So I think it's arrogant for us to just waltz our way and assume everything's going to be hunky-dory all the time. We have to get our competitive juices flowing in any series we play, because if your goal is to play good cricket, the rankings will look after themselves.”

England squad: Andrew Strauss (capt.), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett, and Steve Finn.