India vs England: Bazball in focus as Ben Stokes and Co face litmus test

This is not the Ashes. This is not the World Cup, be it any format of cricket. It is Test cricket though, and England’s biggest assignment in the longest format to date under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. It is a litmus test for Bazball as England hope to repeat the 2012 heroics, the last time India lost in India in a Test series (Under Alastair Cook’s captaincy).

They tried it earlier as well in 2016-17 and 2020-21 but failed miserably. This time, however, they seem to have discovered a newfound inspiration in Bazball, a term that is synonymous with their aggressive brand of cricket.

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While England have been largely successful ever since the invention of the Bazball approach, the same approach has been questioned as well. One of the prime examples was during the Ashes in England last year. In the first Test of the Ashes at Edgbaston last June, Stokes drew criticism for his controversial call to declare England’s first innings at 393/8. England would then go on to lose that Test by two wickets, and not just that, their ploy against short balls in the Lord’s Test of that series was also questioned. So much, so that, the continuous barrage of bouncers in that Test had been questioned by former Australia cricketer Mark Taylor.

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“If a batsman doesn’t play a shot, how many bouncers you can bowl in an over?” Taylor had said on air.  “If both teams continue this bumper tactic – and they will…The laws of the game were changed in the early nineties… If the umpire feels it, he can still call it. It will be same when Australia bowl. If you keep bowling same length, even if it’s not about shoulder high, it’s still intimidation. It’s going to put a lot of pressure on the umpires, who can say, I am going to call it ‘no-ball’.”

That same Bazball approach is once again being questioned by experts, as to how effective would it be on Indian soil, or not.

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In India, it’s not going to be the pace or bounce that will come into effect. Rather, it will be the spinners. India are known to produce spin-friendly tracks, so much so that the track starts turning from Day 1. One can expect something similar when the Test series gets underway in Hyderabad on Thursday

Turn, turn, turn

More than a test of character of strength, it’s going to be about how England approach this Test series. Bazball has been the England team’s keyword heading to this series, but how they turn up against spin remains to be seen.