- Before the start of the much anticipated India-England five-Test series, there was a huge build-up and anticipation surrounding the series which was expected to be a nail-biting contest between the two quality sides well-endowed with internationally acclaimed superstars. The buzz around the series was how Team England would go about replicating its recent success by adopting an attacking brand of cricket named the Bazzball. For the uninitiated, the moniker refers to England’s coach Brendon McCullum whose nickname is Baz. Ever since McCullum took over as the Coach and Ben Stokes as the Captain of the Test team, the attacking brand of cricket has resulted in some of the most spectacular triumphs for Team England against quality opposition in recent times.
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- Remember, Team England defeated Pakistan in the recently concluded Test series 3-0. This is a memorable achievement that very few visiting teams have managed to achieve in the subcontinent. Whitewashing the home team is no mean task indeed. The credit should go to the Coach-Captain combo of McCullum and Stokes for not only infusing a tremendous belief system within the team but also not hesitating one bit from embracing the attacking brand of cricket even when the odds are stacked against them. Indian fans and experts had made it apparent that the Bazball will not work in alien conditions where the host team holds great sway in steamrolling the opposition without breaking into a sweat. How wrong this proved to be in the first Test.
- In an astonishing turn of events, Team England won the first Test in Hyderabad by comprehensively defeating the much-fancied Indian team. What makes this triumph a great spectacle is the way the visiting team went about enforcing their attacking brand of cricket despite finding themselves in a tricky situation. Mind you, Team India had a healthy 190-run lead in the first innings. Indian fans were hopeful that the home spinners would come to the party as usual by bamboozling the visiting team in no time. However, what transpired during England’s second innings firmly reinforces the belief that Test cricket is the ultimate form that not only captivates the connoisseurs through scintillating skill sets on display but manages to dish out thrills and frills right through.
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- One aspect that stood out during the riveting contest was the way England batsmen went about negating the Indian spinners by adopting unorthodox methods, especially in the second innings. Right from the beginning of England’s second innings, the conventional sweeps were peppered with unconventional reverse sweeps against the quality Indian spinners who had no answer to stop them. The scoring rate was not only brisk but also allowed the visiting team to quickly accumulate enough runs on the board to challenge the Indian chase. In contrast, Indian batsmen were found apprehensive in their game plan hardly using their feet or adopting unconventional methods to unsettle the England spinners. This series will be phenomenal for sure.
