Jasprit Bumrah had sounded a warning the week before it all started but England dismissed it as pre-series mud-slinging or threat talk.
For the fast bowler, Bazball — England’s ultra-positive and aggressive style of play — always offered an opportunity to get “heaps” of wickets.
Two matches into the series, Ben Stokes’ men are already reeling under the Bumrah effect; his exploits already threatening to be as devastating as Mitchell Johnson’s telling blows in the 2013-14 Ashes.
In a series where spin was supposed to decide the outcome, England’s Bazball tactics are reeling under pace’s damaging consequences — Bumrah’s yorkers, reverse swing and his unique release points.
Brendon McCullum said before going for the break in Abu Dhabi that they would strategise how to counter the Bumrah threat in the remaining Tests. That though is easier said than done.
Defeat in the second Test has not just left the English supporters frustrated, it has opened Pandora’s box on the ramifications of Bazball.
This was supposed to be their biggest series and it would be unfair to turn back on their philosophy. But have some of the batters Bazballed themselves out? Has someone of Joe Root’s class looked frantic? Can a one-size-fit-all formula be considered rational in Indian conditions?
Former England captains have varying opinions. Mike Atherton, writing in The Times, London, believes Bazball shouldn’t “be seen through the prism of one innings and a single mistake” since there’s “a bigger picture at work”.
Michael Vaughan is not against some batting in fifth gear, but not Root. “Joe Root should forget it. He has 10,000 Test runs playing like Joe Root. He doesn’t need to be a Bazballer,” Vaughan wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
The statistics though reveal differently for Root in the Bazball regime. He averages 52.63 now in comparison to 49.20 previously. A similar deliberation ensued in New Zealand last year when he tried to reverse sweep Neil Wagner and was caught at slip.
Root is a world-class player of spin, probably technically their best bet in these conditions. The numbers will testify: A brilliant 218 in the first innings paved the way for their 227-run victory on their last tour in 2020-21.
England will need him in prime form if they are to harbour hopes of a series victory. They will hope he doesn’t gift his wicket away. What has worked suitably elsewhere may not work to perfection in India.
The most stark manifestation of Bazball lies in England’s fast scoring rate which is close to five runs an over since May 2022. The great West Indies side under Clive Lloyd scored at 3.5 an over in 1984, their fastest run-rate. In the early 2000s, Steve Waugh’s Australia used more orthodox methods to score at a more frenetic pace.
If Jonny Bairstow was the prime ambassador with a series of centuries in England, youngsters like Ben Duckett and Harry Brook have provided much thrill and entertainment. They have been demonstrating white-ball batting in red-ball cricket.
There’s no doubting England’s quality. They bowled out India twice for under-par scores and reached nearly 300 in a stiff chase in Visakhapatnam. But they looked rattled since Bumrah shattered Ollie Pope’s stumps with a yorker. That dismissal could turn out to be the defining moment in the series.
Ben Stokes’ creative abilities have also played its part. The way he tempted Shreyas Iyer to take a single or attempt a heave over mid-off by pushing himself well inside the ropes provided England a vital breakthrough on the third morning in Visakhapatnam.
As Shreyas took the gamble of going for the big one, Stokes pulled off a brilliant catch. He then enticed Shubman Gill with seven men on the leg side, prompting him to hit against the spin or reverse sweep Shoaib Bashir. Having completed his century, Gill fell for the bait and gloved it to Ben Foakes.
Stokes is a master at making things happen on the field when nothing seems to work. Even on dead pitches in Rawalpindi, his unconventional field placements and the use of bouncers, forcing the batters to go for the hook, helped them pick 20 wickets in the most placid conditions in 2022.
England’s Bazballers have been formidable in the two Tests and perhaps a certain tweak to their formula would achieve success for specific players. Being reckless will not help and shifting to Plan B or C, when Plan A doesn’t work, could be the key.
