ENGLAND MUST EXCITE TO ATTRACT FANS, SAYS BROAD
The script couldn’t have been better for the Titans.
Our whole approach to IPL, or for that matter this franchise, was that we were going to give the best account of ourselves. Throughout the tournament we have worked extremely hard, tried to create an environment where people and our group as a whole are allowed to flourish, grow together. We’ve done that. I agree nobody could have written the script quite like that, for us to come back to Ahmedabad is quite brilliant.
You guys didn’t have enough time to strategise and prepare.
Time was short but we did our absolute best. Pre-auction, post-auction and we worked extremely hard. We had some performances that got us here but a lot of planning and strategy were involved in getting us here.
Your auction strategy didn’t seem to make cricket logic, but what you have managed is brilliant. How did you plan your auction? Like Moneyball?
I wouldn’t use that comparison. That would be suggesting we were entirely stats oriented. Our approach was to deal with the assessment of what was required and what options were available. We are very proud of the season, but we were very fortunate. We consider ourselves in a very good position with our pre-auction picks. Hardik Pandya as captain, Rashid Khan as a proven performer in T20 and Shubman Gill as a bright young talent in Indian cricket—those picks allowed us to establish the nucleus of the side and build on that. When we went to the auction, we were in the same position as everyone else. Established teams had four (retentions), we had three but we were in the same position in terms of the purse available. We went about it in a careful process.
One thing I have mentioned many times is Ashish Nehra’s qualities as a coach. I can’t stop commending. His qualities as a person actually make him the coach he is. But he is a very considerate, thought-out cricketing mind. As far as the auction is concerned, between myself, Gary (mentor and batting coach Kirsten), Ashish, Sandeep Raja (analyst), Ashish Kapoor, that was our team that got to the auction. There was a lot of discussion and lot of players to consider, video to watch. There was lot of work, time was short and we had to squeeze in all of the strategy and thinking.
Some of your player picks were interesting. Hardik Pandya had the Gujarat connection, but why David Miller? Not many teams would have gone for him, he was not consistent in earlier seasons.
Selection is always a matter of opinion. For each argument you might put about a player, you have to accept that unless you are not ready to listen to someone else’s opinion, there is an opposing view. Our opinion of Miller was that he is a very fine player; he perhaps hadn’t had the opportunity, or the consistent opportunities at other franchises. We thought he will be a good fit for us. We were very aware of his sort of ability and there is no doubt Davey has a brilliant IPL season. It was never a doubt for us in terms of his quality.
Even Shubman Gill didn’t look like a clear-cut choice.
If you want to pick a team on viewing statistical analysis, then actually adding consideration of the upside of a player, that is what we chose. Equally, if you choose a player on the basis of an instinct, it is also fine. Everyone goes about picking teams and analysing players in different ways. One may be successful in any given occasion, and might be unsuccessful as well. We considered Shubman to be one of the brightest talents in Indian cricket and were very pleased we could have him.
You have brought the best out of Wriddhiman Saha, used keeper-batters, including Matthew Wade. How have you handled them?
Saha has brought the best out of himself. We facilitate performance. It is not essentially us that go out… Ashish and Gary and the other coaches created an environment. (So that) People with the ability gave the best environment for them to grow and perform. Saha has waited and taken his opportunities. He has been in brilliant form through the season, even when he wasn’t playing. It was just an opinion as far as the XI we were playing, initially he was not in that side, and when he got his opportunity…
LONDON: England must produce a brand of cricket to excite supporters, fast bowler Stuart Broad said on Tuesday, with the team’s first Test match under new leadership failing to sell out any of its opening four days at Lord’s.
With two days remaining before the start of the first Test of a three-match series against New Zealand, seats were still widely available at the home of cricket. More than 16,000 seats are unoccupied across the first four days.
Broad, back in England’s squad after missing the recent tour of the West Indies, said the “style of cricket” was i mp o r t a n t to grabbing fans’ attention.
“To attract the fans, we have to build on that style of cricket and have a style that people want to watch,” Broad said.
PARIS: The French government is blaming Liverpool fans. The English club is enraged by the “irresponsible, unprofessional” rush to conclusions. European football's governing body, UEFA, will now try to uncover what went wrong in the disorder and chaos in Paris at the Champions League final before Liverpool lost to Real Madrid.
UEFA is starting to gather evidence about issues outside the Stade de France that marred the final on Saturday. Liverpool fans’ leadership groups are already complaining about heavyhanded policing and poor organisation on a troubling night that saw children and elderly people among those getting sprayed by tear gas.
Richard Bouigue, deputy mayor of the 12th arrondissement in Paris, said “the time for official denial is over, the time for apologies must be imposed” in a letter to a Liverpool supporters’ group.
“It was a pretty big mess,” said Madrid defender Dani Carvajal, whose family encountered safety issues. “They have to learn and fix the mistakes for the next events that may happen at this stadium and hopefully everything will be better. But yes, in the end there were people who suffered a lot.”
Benzema named CL Player of the Season
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema has been named the Champions League Player of the Season after a stellar 2021-22 campaign where he finished as top scorer, UEFA said on Tuesday.
France international Benzema, 34, won the competition for the fifth time as Real beat Liverpool 1-0 in the final, having netted 15 goals in 12 games including hat-tricks against Paris St Germain and Chelsea in the knockout stages.
Team of the season: Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid); Defenders: Trent Alexander-arnold (Liverpool), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Andy Robertson (Liverpool); Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Fabinho (Liverpool), Luka Modric (Real Madrid); Forwards: Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)