England plan to take on India with better bowling, fielding

BANGALORE - For the first major encounter of the ICC World Cup-2011 here Sunday, England are pulling out all stops to take on India with better bowling and fielding performance in the Group B match.

“We are aware of India’s strength on their home ground. We are practising hard to bowl and field much better than in the previous match against the Netherlands at Nagpur the other day (Tuesday),” England seam bowler Stuart Broad told reporters here.

The England team, which arrived here late Wednesday, had two practice sessions at the National Cricket Academy ground, which is adjacent to the M. Chinnaswamy stadium, for the one-day international (ODI) though rain played spoilsport Friday when the players were at the nets.

Noting that the players were adjusting to the sub-continent conditions quickly, Broad said the team was working on a definite plan to restrict India in the event of bowling first so that their batsmen would be able to chase a decent score to win in a contest that will be keenly watched back home.

“We hope to do well with the ball to get early breaks and restrict India, especially its star batsmen (Virender) Sehwag, Sachin (Tendulkar) and those who follow them,” Broad said before joining his team members for the two-hour long practice session.

Though England beat minnows Netherlands by six wickets, they were made to toil to restrict the opponents to 292 in 50 overs.

“Mentally we know where we have to bowl. In the last game against the Netherlands we didn’t execute our plans. We were very expensive than what we would have liked. We just need to execute those plans. We have to practice hard,” Broad said.

Asked whether there would be changes in the team for the big game against India, the English pacer said the team would decide on the composition after studying the pitch on the day of the match.

“Our star batsman Kevin Pietersen has lot of experience playing here as a leading member of the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL (Indian Premier League) tournament. His presence in the team will help us a lot in the crucial match,” Broad noted.

Admitting that each game was important for the team to get through the group stage, Broad said the players would be looking for momentum to progress to the next stage and for that winning the Sunday match would be crucial.

“We expect the match against India to be an exciting one and we have to come up with a better bowling and fielding performance throughout the game,” he added.