Former Indian batter and skipper, Sunil Gavaskar spoke on whether England’s newfound approach to the Test format, ‘Bazball,’ can work against against India ahead of England’s Test tour.
Gavaskar believes that Bazball can work in Indian conditions, taking into account the smaller boundaries and the improvements made in bats as well. Speaking to Star Sports Gavaskar shared, “It can work in India, it can. If you look at it, the boundaries have become smaller in the last few years. The bats have become better and better and even mishits are flying over the boundary.”
Gavaskar also predicted that the English batters would look to attack the Indian spinners out of the game with aggressive intent and made a comparison to the mindset bowlers have in T20 cricket. Gavaskar said, “I think the England batters will try to attack the spinners out of the game. They will try to hit them into the stands. Yes, they might get dismissed in the process, but you create a mentality. Our spinners also play a lot of T20 cricket. What’s your mentality in T20 cricket, there it’s okay if you don’t pick up wickets, but you are careful not to concede sixes or boundaries. Your flight and line, you tend to change it.”
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Gavaskar also added that in the longest format, the spinners could make changes to their plans when they are attacked at the beginning of their spells. He mentioned, “Even in Test cricket if you are attacked at the start of your spell, if you concede a couple of sixes, there is a possibility that our spinners might try to reduce the flight and change the lines and lengths.”
However, the Indian batting legend believes that the pitch will determine how the Test pans out. He added, “We have to see how the pitch plays out in Hyderabad. In Hyderabad, the pitch often tends to be good for the batters. There is a bit of pace and bounce. It will be a very interesting test,” Gavaskar added. It will be a very interesting test for Bazball against our spinners.”
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England have been given a boost as India’s star batter, Virat Kohli pulled out of the first two Tests citing personal reasons. However, the English side has also been dealt a blow with the young English batter, Harry Brook not travelling with the squad to India citing personal reasons as well. Brook has had success in the subcontinental conditions having performed well in the tour of Pakistan previously.
England has arrived in India and will begin their Test tour with the first game taking place in Hyderabad. The English side under the leadership of Ben Stokes will aim to break the long-standing streak of not being able to win a Test series in India since 2012.
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