The highly anticipated five-match Test series between India and England is gaining attention not only for the quality of players but also for the “Bazball” style of cricket England has adopted under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.
There are lingering questions about whether the England side can maintain their aggressive style of play on turning pitches in India. The intriguing battle will unfold, and if England succeeds, the focus will shift to how India responds. Former Indian player Sunil Gavaskar expressed confidence, stating, “We have Viratball to counter Bazball.”
Gavaskar highlighted Virat Kohli’s impressive form, saying, “The way he’s been batting, his movement looks good.” Despite not scoring many runs in South Africa by his standards, especially on challenging pitches with seam movement and variable bounce, Kohli stood out from other batters. The Indian captain displayed a level of mastery reminiscent of his past performances when he used to amass runs effortlessly.
Kohli also has the amazing ability to score big when he gets a start. “Yeah, conversion means having more hundreds than fifties. With Kohli, he has a similar amount of hundreds and fifties (Kohli has 29 centuries and 30 half-centuries), which means he has a good conversion rate,” Gavaskar said.
King Kohli has reached Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/pmkLNTwVl0
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 21, 2024
“England have adopted a new approach in Test cricket in the last 1-2 years. It’s an aggressive approach where batters look to attack. They just want to play attacking cricket no matter the situation. It’ll be interesting to see if this approach works against the spinners of India,” Gavaskar further added.
England is set to begin their Test series against India with the first match in Hyderabad, followed by games in Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, and Ranchi. The series will conclude with the final Test taking place in Dharamsala.
The upcoming series holds significance as England aims to break their winless streak in Test series in India since their last triumph in 2012. In the 2021 tour, England started on a positive note with a victory in the first Test in Chennai but faced defeats in the subsequent three matches. Under the leadership of Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, both of whom have yet to lose a Test series, the England team is optimistic about achieving improved results in this edition of the series.
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