The Baz ball Approach-- Will it Survive ?

 

I post this on the eve of the start of the Fourth test between India and England ,  knowing fully well that England is not going to change its approach to playing test cricket away from the Baz ball approach .

 

Having gone one up in the series  in the first test with a win that was possible due to the  aggressive approach to go after the bowling , England suffered two reverses in the following tests . While the test at Vizag was fought closely , the one at Rajkot , England lost the match by well over400 runs ( 434 to be precise ) .. That is like being beaten hollow to say the least. Now what caused this heavy defeat ?

 

To me , it was playing the way they did without understanding the match situation and being relevant in the approach that led to Eng losing by such a huge margin. India scored 445 runs in its first knock and England responded with 319 – Not bad at all – But close to 50 % came from the bat of one player..  Ben Duckett – Duckett could have been dismissed N number of times during his knock but it was his day and he literally swept every delivery from all the bowlers-  When Duckett batted , one felt bad for the bowlers for the tonking they got . Everything he seemed to attempt came off and all of that he tried were unorthodox shots ( Reverse sweeps , switch hits , Tennis balls smashes etc. )—But other batters could not replicate what he did—This was because they were relying on pulling it off with luck rather than playing it with technique  which is such an important factor when you are playing Test Cricket. Take Joe Root -- of all people he reverse swept  ( what do you call that shot he played )a fast ball from Bumrah to the slips !! Joe Root is one player who has played Test Cricket the traditional way with sound technique  and has scored tons of runs  and won matches playing it that way .

The approach seems to be Hit or miss type – And this will never succeed in the longer format of the game is  my view

  1. Yes Baz ball approach is exciting to watch and  produces results in Test matches and in less than the five days that it is played normally /
  2. To the crowd , it is like watching T 20—You get confused – Have they reverted to playing T20 in whites rather than Color clothing ?
  3. The approach has made everyone sit up and watch.
  4. England has taken the Test Cricket by storm using this . And every  England player has signed up to it. If you get out playing some stupid shot without understanding the match situation , it does not matter and  no one in the dressing room will talk about it .  ( I remember Kapil Dev getting dropped for playing what was called an irresponsible shot  in a Test match)
  5. It has brought the English crowds back on its feet. This time , there seems to be so many of the travelers from England who have come to India to watch their team dish out this form of cricket.
  6. It has given the players freedom to express themselves –
  7. 7.     Will this approach survive ?  It may not in my view if the results continue to be disastrous – But, we have to credit McCullum and Stokes for taking this on and showing how test cricket can be different – Hats off to them for doing this …   But I do think they have gone overboard with the approach . I am sure the Baz ball approach does not say that you will play that way and loose matches. Matches need not be lost , they can saved also by drawing and that is the opportunity that Test Cricket provides.  May be they want  a result one way or the other

Interesting two tests ahead – It may determine whether the Baz ball approach is going to survive or not. My gut says , England is going to loose its way … What say ? Rohit and his men will be happy with the English Approach 😊

 

 

Comments

Siva said…
Yes rightly said sri, Bazball approach is needed but need not every time and all situations. If Eng would have played sensibly, they could have saved the last test. Hopefully, it should be 4-1 for India by end of the series
3:14 AM
Prasanna said…
Each match is different . Hoping India takes advantage and wrap it with series win
4:42 PM
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