'There are both advantages and disadvantages' - R Ashwin takes a dig at England's 'Bazball' approach, shares his thoughts

R Ashwin, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum (Source - Twitter)

England are clashing against New Zealand in the 2^nd match of the two-match Test series in Wellington and are on the verge of sweeping the series as they are already ahead by 1-0 in the series. The visitors’ aggressive approach helped them to win the Test series against Pakistan last year.

England's ‘bazball’ trick grabbed a lot of attention recently, it’d be interesting to see if they continue this approach against Australia in the upcoming Ashes series. Meanwhile, India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is performing exceptionally well against the Australian team in the home Test series, has different thoughts about this aggressive approach of England.

“We now have a concept called Bazball. England is playing high-paced Test match cricket. They want to play a certain style of cricket. But in certain types of wickets, when you try and attack every ball, you will falter. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this approach,” Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel.

“Some will ask instead of defending and getting all out for 100, I will slog it out and get all out for 140. We will only know when the game pans out whether the approach works or not. Sometimes, on the wicket, conditions need to be respected. If you respect the pitch and play accordingly, the pitch will also respect you. If you respect the pitch, it will pay you dividends,” the veteran spinner explained.

India are one win away from qualifying for the WTC final

Ashwin performed brilliantly in the first two Tests of the four-match Test series against the Kangaroos. The star off-spinner took 8 wickets in the first Test match which included a five-wicket haul in the second innings. As for the second Test match, he picked up 6 wickets and played a handy knock of 37 runs, Besides, he stitched a beautiful partnership with Axar Patel.

India are currently ahead in the series by 2-0 and needs just one win to qualify for the WTC final in June. The third Test of the series will be played on March 1 in Indore, while the fourth match will take place in Ahmedabad on March 9. After the conclusion of the Test series, both teams will clash for the three-match ODI series starting on March 17.