Ever since the English Test team unveiled their audacious style of play, dubbed ‘Bazball,’ in 2022, a large number of critics have been desperate to see it fail. It’s not that they have any deep-seated dislike of aggressive batting, but the complete defiance of convention left many unreconciled to it.
The Bazball juggernaut saw England defeat New Zealand and South Africa at home and whitewash Pakistan away. The Ashes seemed to have stopped the victorious run of England, with Australia winning the first two Tests of the 2023 series. But Stokes’ side fought back and if it wasn’t for rain, could well have won the series 3-2, instead of settling for a 2-2 draw.
The tour of India was going to be the biggest test of this variety of playing the longest format. With the English side already defeated in the series, the critics of Bazball think they have finally been vindicated.
Is Bazball a failure in India?
But, before pronouncing an adverse judgment on Bazball, a few things need to be remembered. How was England’s performance in previous tours – before the dawn of this new template of playing Test cricket? Also, how good were England’s resources for a tour of India?
Let’s explore England’s last three series in India. Their famous win in India in 2012 was a great advertisement for playing with application and determination. The man who led the way, both as a captain and as the leading run-scorer – Alastair Cook – was as much an antithesis of Bazball as one can imagine.
However, that triumph was also, in equal measure, due to the presence of two high-quality spinners, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, as well as the genius of Kevin Pietersen.
But then, the 2016 tour of India was a humbling experience for the same captain and his team. Without Swann and Panesar, the bowling attack was clueless. The batting line-up’s inaptitude was symbolized by the last day of that series. England lost all 10 wickets in the last two sessions of the last Test on a dead-flat wicket to go down 4-0 in the series.
The 2021 tour started grandly, with a great win in Chennai. However, once India broke England’s momentum in the second Test, that series also became a horror story for the visitors, ending in a 3-1 win for India.
So, England’s orthodox approach to the game had failed miserably in the past. There is no reason to believe that it wouldn’t have failed again. But isn’t the scoreline the same – 3-1 – as before?
The Bazball effect
In the present series, England has not only been far more competitive but also had genuine chances of winning all three Tests they lost.
In the second Test, England kept fighting against heavy odds. Even in the fourth innings, they scored 292 while chasing 399, despite Joe Root throwing his wicket away with a mindless slog and Ben Stokes getting run-out. The visitors gave themselves a genuine chance of pulling off an unimaginable chase.
The third Test saw England being 224-2 in their first innings while replying to India’s 445. Things went completely downhill from there on, but England looked in control of the match at the end of Day 2.
The fourth Test’s loss would hurt them most. With India 177/7 in response to England’s 353, England should definitely have won this game. This kind of fight is a far cry from the visitors’ despair in their last two tours of India.
England’s biggest handicap
Now, let’s look at England’s resources for this series. While their batting department is well-stocked, the spin department is incredibly inexperienced. The only proven performer among the slower bowlers, Jack Leach, got injured midway through the first Test.
Tom Hartley had played just 20 first-class matches before this series, Rehan Ahmed 13, and Shoaib Bashir six. Whatever approach England took with their batting, expecting this spin attack to trouble India, would have been excessively optimistic.
The fact that Ben Stokes has been able to make his team compete with these bowlers is, in itself, a major achievement. If he had the services of Graeme Swann or Monty Panesar, the series would have had a very different script.
So, despite what seems to be the case, prima facie, Bazball has allowed England to be competitive in what would likely have been a hopeless cause. Yes, there have been instances where England’s fearless approach has crossed the line into recklessness. But there is no point in condemning the baby along with the bathwater.
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