Image Credit- Reuters
Since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach and Ben
Stokes was named captain, England’s Test side has captivated the attention of
the cricket world with their extremely aggressive style, which has since been
called “Bazball” after the former captain of New Zealand. Since the
two took control, England has won every series they have played in, and they
have maintained scoring rates during games that occasionally may have been high
even for an ODI.
But after England lost the Ashes against Australia at
home, the shine faded a little, and now there are doubts about their ability to
withstand the strength of India’s spin attack, which includes Axar Patel,
Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin, in the upcoming five-match Test
series in India.
Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar
however does feel that Bazball could work for England in India. “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,” Gavaskar said on Star Spots.
“I think the England batters will try to attack the
spinners out of the game. They will try to hit them into the stands. Yes, they
might get dismissed in the process, but you create a mentality. 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,” he said.
“Even in Test cricket, if you are attacked at the
start of your spell, if you concede a couple of sixes, there is a possibility
that our spinners might try to reduce the flight and change the lines and
lengths.”
“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,”
Gavaskar added. It will be a very interesting test for Bazball against our
spinners,” he added.