We have moved from being India's admirers to their enemy: Stuart Broad

So, it is time for battle. From 5th February 2021, India and England will lock horns in a four-match Test series on Indian soil. The series is a much anticipated one, as both sides have some world-class players in their arsenal, and both the sides are coming into the series on the back of series wins from their previous tours.

While India defeated Australia 2-1 to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, England inflicted a whitewash on Sri Lanka and hammered them 2-0 in a short two-match series. Now, Stuart Broad has opened up on the upcoming battle against the Indian side.

Broad opined that India would surely not be an easy place to tour, and India’s confidence would also be at the peak, after having breached the Australian fortress at The Gabba. The pacer also admitted that there were a lot of England players who supported India in the fourth Test at Brisbane. But then, Broad also sounded a warning and stated that now India would become enemies and India cannot be ‘built up’.

“This is not an easy place to tour, and India’s confidence will be sky high from winning at the Gabba to complete a series victory in Australia earlier this month. I can tell you that they had supporters within this England team throughout that decisive match in Brisbane.

“They are the World Test Championship leaders for good reason. But we have moved from being admirers to their enemy within a couple of weeks and what we cannot do is build India up in our minds. They are not impregnable,” Broad wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

Broad heaps praise on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli will be returning back to the playing arena after missing out on the last 3 Test matches against Australia for the birth of his child. And, Broad heaped praise on the Indian batting maestro and admitted that Kohli is one of the best cricketers that he has ever seen.

However, Broad was quick to add that if England dwell too much on India’s positives, then they would be defeated even before the battle begins. He concluded by stating that England are entering the series in great form.

“Virat Kohli is one of the best I’ve ever seen but if we go through all their positives we will be defeated before we’ve even begun. We need to build on our own strengths. We are entering the series in great form ourselves,” wrote the England pacer.

Needless to say, the series between India and England will be a tightly contested one. And of course, the way Kohli performs will have a massive bearing on India’s fortunes in this series.