ENG vs IND: Broad, Buttler believe chirpy Sundar, Nitish fuelled England's Lord's win
But Sundar's confidence appeared to backfire. England, spurred on by the remarks, raised their intensity-led by a fiery Jofra Archer and captain Ben Stokes. Sundar's bold prediction came back to haunt him when he was dismissed for a duck early on Day 5, caught off Archer's own bowling.ENG vs IND, 3rd TEST HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARDButtler, reflecting on Sundar's comments, said they became a motivator for England heading into the final day. Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, he explained:"There's a little clip of when Washington came out to bat and Brendon McCullum over the balcony, sort of telling everyone to raise it-it's the guy who's been chirping."According to Buttler, Sundar had unknowingly put a target on his back with his confident remarks."You set yourself up, don't you? It's horrible. But now everyone knows what I've said in the media last night, and everyone's after me. Even McCullum-possibly the only time he didn't have his feet up-he's leant forward to say, 'Come on. Let's ramp it up for this guy,'" said Buttler.Instead of a traditional pep talk, England needed no more motivation than Sundar's interview."I wonder if he's just sort of, you know, got his words out wrong, but it was proper incredible confidence. 'Yeah, we're going to win.' Someone will have heard that in the dressing room. It's almost like instead of anyone saying anything this morning for England, you could have just played that interview-and that would have got people so fired up."Meanwhile, Stuart Broad also reflected on how India's Nitish Kumar Reddy became a focal point of England's aggression following his vocal presence in the slips. Reddy had exchanged words with England's openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett earlier in the match. Broad explained that Archer's fiery spell was a deliberate move by the team to "meet fire with fire.""Jofra bowled quick-his fastest spell in an England shirt-up the hill at the Nursery End, flying through at 92 miles an hour. I said, 'God, I've never seen you as fired up as that.' Actually, it was a team plan. They've (India) had a go at Zak Crawley. We've got to meet fire with fire here," said Broad.advertisementThat plan became evident when Archer greeted Reddy with a sharp bouncer on the first ball he faced on Day 5-followed by the entire England team closing in to make their intentions clear. Broad described the moment as a coordinated response:"Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Rooty-getting stuck into Reddy-because reports came back from the middle when Crawley and Duckett were out there that Reddy was the most vocal."For England, the win highlighted their ability to remain composed under pressure-but it also underscored the power of words in high-stakes moments. As Broad and Buttler pointed out, it's often those bold predictions and heated exchanges that ignite a team's fire, shift momentum, and ultimately, change the course of a match.- EndsTune InYou May Also Like
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