England had a big slice of luck even before a single ball had been bowled in the ongoing five-match Test series. India’s best batter Virat Kohli ruled himself out of the series at the last moment for personal reasons. Mohammad Shami had already been ruled out because of injury as had India’s first wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant. This left Indian captain Rohit Sharma with only one experienced middle-order batter KL Rahul.
Things could not have begun better for the visiting English side when they won the first Test match in Hyderabad. The foundation of this win was laid by Ollie Pope, who scored 196 in the second innings. It is important to note that Pope did not hit a single six during the entire knock. His strike rate was at 70, which was brisk but not in line with Bazball standards. Three English batters added another 100 runs by playing conservative cricket to help the team set a competitive target of 230 for India in the fourth innings. India lost the game by 28 runs, giving England a 1-0 lead.
By the time the second Test started, luck continued to favour England. India’s experienced batter KL Rahul injured himself and was ruled out for the remaining part of the series. India entered the match with one of its weakest batting line-up in a home series. England blew away all the advantage with their casual approach with the bat. Ben Duckett scored a mere 21 and gave his wicket away. Supporters of Bazball may need to ponder what use is an innings of 21 with a strike rate of 123 when a team ends up with a total of only 253. It is naive and somewhat arrogant to assume that batters can score freely on Indian pitches. If it was so easy, then the Indian batters would have played with such strike rates.
England blew away all the luck they got off the field by their casual batting approach to give away the second Test match at Vizag to India. In the second innings of this match, three England batters scored with a strike rate of above 100 only to make 60-odd runs among themselves. One of them was Joe Root. Ironically, the second-highest scorers in the English innings were Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley, who added 72 by playing sensible, orthodox cricket. The arrogance of Bazball ensured England lost the Test match by 106 runs.
The third Test match held in Rajkot saw four Indian batters score massive runs. Their strike rates were nothing extraordinary yet the team score was 445 in the first innings and 430-4 in the second innings. It was a lesson on how to respect the bowling of the opposite team and bat with responsibility, playing each ball on its merit. England learnt nothing from the way Indian batters played spin bowling. Joe Root’s reverse-sweep against Indian world-class pacer Jasprit Bumrah was a pathetic shot. It showed the arrogance of the faulty approach known as Bazball. There is no doubt in my mind that Bazball destroyed England’s greatest batter in this series. Root’s approach was surprising because he has the skill and the past performance to play match-winning innings in the Indian subcontinent. It was hard to fathom why he had to play high-risk cricket during a crucial stage in the match. The second innings of the match saw the English batters attempting lofty sweep shots against a turning ball only to miss the line completely. England were bundled out for 122 to give India her biggest Test victory of all time—434 runs.
Also read: Cricket-‘Tourist-unfriendly’ India dim England’s ‘Bazball’ aura
Bazball losing the series
The fourth Test match of the series in Ranchi saw Joe Root return to his best. He batted for 362 minutes with a modest strike rate of 44 to score a classic Test hundred. The Indian bowlers could not get him out. This is because he shunned the illogical Bazball approach in India for a more logical approach where there is respect for the bowlers. Root had set it up beautifully for his team until reckless batting in the second innings. All through this series, the England batters did not carve out enough partnerships because they played risky cricket scoring runs at high strike rates. The most embarrassing example of this was Jonny Bairstow who batted casually right through the series. The difference was obvious even with lower order batters. Indian leggie Kuldeep Yadav batted sensibly to stitch a crucial partnership with stumper Dhruv Jurel to bring India back in the game. On the other hand, English bowler Hartley batting in the same position tried to hit a lofty shot, completely ignoring the nature of the wicket.
The English obsession with high strike rates has horribly boomeranged in this series. The inexperienced English spin bowlers rose to the occasion by bowling above par. They won the first Test for their team only for their batters to spoil it for them thanks to Bazball. One of the drawbacks of playing with high strike rates on Indian pitches is that it gives the opposition a lot of time in the game to bat playing risk-free conservative cricket and yet have enough time to win a game of Test cricket.
England head coach Brendon McCullum has a lot to answer for. His team has lost the Test series 1-3 with one match remaining. What is more disturbing is that England have lost to one of the most inexperienced Indian sides at home. In many ways, it was a second string Indian side. India did not have a consistent middle-order and changed their wicket-keeper in the middle of the series. India also rested Bumrah and yet England lost.
Personally, the English skipper too has a lot to answer for. Ben Stokes did not bowl during the series and failed miserably with the bat. In the eight innings that he has batted, Stokes could not come up with a single match-winning performance.
An experienced English team has failed to beat an inexperienced Indian team crippled by absentees and injuries. ‘Bazball’ tactics in India need to be questioned and Brendon McCullum’s approach in India has to be held accountable. England are yet to win a high-profile Test series with ‘Bazball’. In fact, they have just lost one.
Kush Singh @singhkb is founder, The Cricket Curry Tour Company. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)