Former England captain Nasser Hussain stated that the tour of India will pose the next major challenge to “Bazball” as they will face their next stern Test, particularly against spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.
India will host England for a five-match Test series starting January 25, 2024. The Test series will be played at Hyderabad, Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala. (Watch: Ben Stokes’ Savage Reply After Being Asked Will Bazball Work Vs Team India?)
The spotlight will be on England’s ‘Bazball’ tactic, which has evolved with each series against a new opponent. They now face India in their second difficult Test, particularly against spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, who are renowned for their efficacy in Indian conditions.
The series promises to be exciting as England’s bowling squad takes on India’s powerful spin assault in the ultimate Test. Fans and pundits alike are looking forward to the Bazball clash, which promises to be a highly contested and entertaining series.
“So England have options. It’s the next test for Bazball. They said Bazball will work against one side, then they moved on to the next side. Then they moved on to New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan. The next challenge is India and everyone knows India in India is one of the sternest challenges in Test match cricket,” Nasser Hussain told ICC.
“It’s Bazball against spin. Bazball against Ravi Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja and Axar Patel and that is going to be fascinating,” he further added.
Hussain believes England have some good depth in their bowling ranks who are more than capable of performing well in India.
“Jack Leach will (hopefully) be back and Rehan Ahmed is a very good second spinner, as we saw in Pakistan. Josh Tongue has bowled really well. Ollie Robinson is a very skilful bowler. Unfortunately, someone like Olly Stone is injured and obviously Jofra Archer is injured. You need that extra pace as well in India. So England have got…they’ve got that lad (Gus) Atkinson at Surrey, who has a lot of good things being said about him,” Hussain said.