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England’s Bazball approach will face, arguably, its biggest test when they take on India in a five-match Test series starting in Hyderabad on Thursday, Jan. 25. After Joe Root’s stint as Test captain came to a disastrous end, Ben Stokes combined with new coach Brendon McCullum to completely overhaul England’s Test fortunes.
Under Stokes as captain, England have played 19 Tests, winning 13 and losing only five, while one match ended in a draw. With Stokes as leader and McCullum as coach, England implemented Bazball during the 2022 home series against New Zealand. It was a grand success as they hammered the Kiwis 3-0. England then chased down 378 against India in the rescheduled Test in Birmingham.
More success followed against South Africa at home as the hosts registered a 2-1 win in a three-match series. England then proceeded to thump Pakistan 3-0 in Pakistan. The Englishmen had mixed success in the Ashes, but ended up squaring the five-match series 2-2.
There have been contrasting reactions to the debate over whether England’s Bazball philosophy will work in India on turning tracks. We compiled some of the most interesting comments.
#1 “Very interesting test for Bazball against our spinners” - Sunil Gavaskar
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar does not rule out the possibility of Bazball working in India. According to the former opening batter, England could force India’s spinners to alter their line and length by attacking them.
"It can work in India, it can. If you look at it, in the last few years, the boundaries have become smaller. The bats have become better and better and even mishits are flying over the boundary. I think the England batters will try to attack the spinners out of the game," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
"See, our spinners also play a lot of T20 cricket. What's your mentality in T20 cricket, there it's okay if you don't pick up wickets, but you are careful not to concede sixes or boundaries. Your flight and line... you tend to change it."
The 74-year-old opined that the first Test in Hyderabad will be extremely crucial in setting the tone of the series.
"That's why I think the first Test will be crucial. We have to see how the pitch plays out in Hyderabad. In Hyderabad, the pitch often tends to be good for the batters. There is a bit of pace and bounce. It will be a very interesting test for Bazball against our spinners,” he added.
England will be without aggressive batter Harry Brook for the India series after he pulled out citing personal reasons.
#2 If England play Bazball in India, the match may get over within a day-and-a-half: Siraj
Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj has issued a direct warning to England, claiming that Bazball won’t work in India. He opined that playing in ultra-aggressive mode might see the visitors losing Tests within two days.
"If England play Bazball in Indian conditions, the match may get over within a day-and-a-half or two. It's not easy to hit every time here as the ball turns sometimes and straightens on other occasions. So, I think it'll be difficult to see Bazball here. But if they play it, it'll be good for us as the match may get over quickly," Siraj was quoted as telling JioCinema.
The 29-year-old pacer has featured in seven Tests against England, claiming 21 wickets at an average of 31.52.
#3 “Bazball is not going to work” - Harbhajan Singh
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh openly declared that Bazball won’t work in India. He went on to add that England can only dominate the series if India produce pitches that have nothing to offer for the spinners.
“Bazball is not going to work. The conditions are going to be very difficult for England. There will be turn from the very first delivery and spinners from both sides will get purchase,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
“England will be able to dominate only if they get a pitch which has nothing to offer to spinners,” he added.
Harbhajan (43) featured in 14 Tests against England, claiming 45 wickets at an average of 39.20.
#4 “I wouldn't write them off” - Nasser Hussain on England’s big challenge in India
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has admitted that Stokes and McCullum’s ultra-aggressive approach will face one of its biggest tests in India. He, however, asserted that he wouldn’t write England off, having seen what they have achieved under the captain-coach combo.
"India are the favourites, but every single challenge Bazball has faced they've stuck to their guns and Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum's record is seriously good, I wouldn't write them off. Bazball has been very successful, especially at home, and the two toughest places to tour are India or Australia. It's going to be a massive challenge for England," Hussain was quoted as telling Sky Sports.
The 55-year-old added that the contest between England’s aggressive batters and India’s quality spinners will be fascinating to watch.
"India want to see how this new approach will work at home. It will be fascinating cricket and will be interesting to see how this particular side will go against what is one of the great cricketing outfits at the moment, which is the India side," Hussain commented.
Incidentally, England were the last team to beat India in India in a Test series. They defeated the hosts 2-1 during their 2012 tour.
#5 “They may get blown away” - Michael Vaughan’s warning for England
Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons that the visitors could be blown away and destroyed if Bazball backfires on Indian pitches against high-quality spinners. He pointed out that Nathan Lyon troubled England during the Ashes before getting injured, adding that India have more than one spinner to exploit home conditions.
“Ultimately the hardest place to play in the world is India and if you actually go back to the Ashes when Nathan Lyon was fit and bowling nicely, Australia were 2-0 up in the series. That was just one innings and a few overs in the first innings at Lord’s,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au.
“...If you add in [Ravichandran] Ashwin, [Ravindra] Jadeja and Axar Patel on spinning wickets in India, they may get blown away; they may get absolutely destroyed... You will have to fancy three quality spinners might do a job on England when one quality spinner in Nathan Lyon did the job in English conditions. It’s going to be very tough for them to win in India,” Vaughan concluded.
Under Root, England went down 3-1 in the Test series during their previous tour of India in 2021.
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