http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 and England’s T20 captaincy – Opinion
England cricket seems to be making headlines for all the wrong reasons, either be it Kevin Pietersen’s outburst against the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), former Test captain Andrew Strauss’ departure or Stuart Broad’s less inspiring leadership in
the T20 format, nothing seems to be going right for the Poms.
However, with KP back in the fold after getting his sins washed off by the ECB, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 settling in as Test captain, the only problem is now the shaky T20 captaincy.
While Broad may be favoured by many in England, he certainly isn’t even close to the likes of Strauss, Cook, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 captains).
Perhaps it is not the right time for him to be leading one of England’s best units in decades. The youngster is without a doubt an asset as a bowler, but is lack of charisma to lead his players through fire cost England their T20 title this year, which the
blues won under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PD-Collingwood-c2173.
Another matter of concern is his unhealthy relationship with England’s ace T20 performer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806.
KP, who touched ECB’s nerve this summer when he criticised the board for not allowing English players to play more IPL matches resulted in his exile from the national team.
This also barred him from playing the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, and according to certain sources, the players who were pleased at KP’s ouster included Broad.
There is no secret to the fact that Broad was confident that his side would do well in the mega event without the presence of their number-one all-rounder.
However, things have taken a different turn now and while KP is going to play the Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the coming month, Broad needs to find a way to hold on to his under fire captaincy.
Had Broad been captaining an Asian side (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, Sri Lanka, India) he would he been shown the door by now. But its England we are talking about, where Boards tend to be a bit more lenient with their fallen heroes.
Still Broad is walking a fine line and a few more bad results would push the officials to look for his replacement and what could be the odds if KP is chosen to lead the 20-over squad.
For now, ECB is not there yet, and Broad still has a chance to redeem his leadership and improve his communication with his teammates on the field.
Identifying his predicament, Broad in a recent interview reckoned that he would want to be an all-rounder for England instead of being just a bowler.
"You're never satisfied. I'm lucky to be in the position I'm in, but I'm not satisfied with where I am. You've always got to push for further. The past year has personally been quite a successful one. But as a team, we didn't have that successful a year.
I didn't contribute with the bat as much as I could have done, so that's a real focus for me. I want to put both parts of my game together, said Broad in an interview with the Daily Express.
The move would benefit him both as a player and skipper, however, now the big question is how he will make this happen.
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