Former England captain exposes loopholes in ‘Bazball’ approach after England loses 2nd Test by 106 runs

After winning the 1st at Hyderabad in a spirited manner by 28 runs, England’s ‘Bazball’ approach lost the plot in the 2nd test at Visakhapatnam and lost the match by 106 runs. Despite chasing down a mammoth total of 399 runs in the 4th innings, England went on with their fearless ‘Bazball’ approach but eventually succumbed to the Indian conditions and fell short of the target by 106 runs.

England’s attacking approach in tests has been quite popular since it came into being and has won them quite a few match matches in the last year and a half. According to many pundits, this five-match series in India was the test for ‘Bazball’ and fans were excited to see how England’s aggressive approach in tests would fare in India’s testing conditions.

In the first two tests, the ‘Bazball’ approach got a mixed response from fans and cricket analysts. After the victory in the 1st test, people were hailing this new approach by England but the 106 runs lost in the 2nd test against an injury-stricken Indian team has grounded the  ‘Bazball’ approach to an extent.

England’s former captain Geoffrey Boycott has launched a scathing attack on England’s approach in the 2nd test and has called out the England captain and coach for mindlessly attacking instead of playing according to the situation.

In a column in The Telegraph, Boycott wrote, “Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are besotted with attack, attack, attack. It’s as if they say ‘If we can’t win, we will go down in glorious failure instead.’ But there is no glory in failure or defeat,” Boycott wrote in his column on The Telegraph.

“Bazball is great entertainment when it comes off. But once you believe in an ideal over substance, then you have lost the plot. Today England gave the match away. Bazball was a failure.”  

Boycott criticized Joe Root’s overly aggressive approach

Boycott also slammed Joe Root for being too attacking to fit himself in this England test setup. He feels that Root with his solid technique is better off with old ways of scoring big runs at his usual pace.

Boycott in his column wrote, “Scoring at five an over was entertaining but too many batsmen gave their wickets away after good starts. The best way to achieve a total of nearly 400 is by one of the batsmen scoring a big hundred. Looking to go after good bowlers and scoring quickly comes with risk. 

Bazball cost Joe Root his wicket. As soon as he came in, he was dancing down the pitch trying to hit it over the top, and very soon swiped it up in the air. He only scored 16. England’s best technical batsman is normally a busy player who scores at a good rate, but trying to go after the bowling as soon as he comes in takes him out of his comfort zone.”