5 former Test players who followed the Bazball template well ahead of time
Ever since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took charge of England's Test team, their aggressive approach with the bat - popularly dubbed 'Bazball' - has been the talking point among fans and pundits alike.
Taking the game by the scruff of the neck is how McCullum played his game for New Zealand, and under his regime, the England team has been encouraged to follow much the same. The result of it all? 11 wins out of 13 Tests prior to the Ashes, and even Joe Root unleashing the reverse-ramp at will.
Make no mistake, Bazball has been entertaining to watch and has commanded the attention of the cricketing world. The jury is still out over its viability across different conditions, and while time will have an answer to that, it is surely worth keeping an eye out for.
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However, it's not as though no other batter has taken the attacking route with the bat in Tests. With that in mind, we look at five former Test cricketers who played 'Bazball' well in advance.
#1 Sir Vivian Richards
A record that has stood for 28 years (and counting)! Viv Richards. #Respect http://t.co/7ba0hHjdKS
If there was a batter who was truly decades ahead of his time, it was Sir Vivian Richards. The dashing superstar terrorized bowling units in the 1970s and 80s with his sheer power, unparalleled consistency and unique swagger.
Richards was as marauding a batter as they came, and it's quite remarkable that he averaged 47 in ODIs and 50.23 in Tests over a massive sample size for someone who took the cavalier, high-risk route. Bowlers had no place to hide, and he was the ultimate crowd-puller.
The format didn't matter to the great man, who once held the record for the fastest Test century before Misbah-ul-Haq equaled it and McCullum broke it. Even the latter would agree, though, that this was Bazball before anybody else could think of it.
#2 Shahid Afridi
He might have played just 27 Tests, but did you expect Shahid Afridi to approach the format any differently at all? Once the holder of the record for the fastest ODI ton, 'Boom Boom' was box-office in every possible way and stuck by his approach even in Test cricket.
Afridi struck five centuries in the format, with his overall strike rate reading 86.97. Mind you, his average of 36.51 wasn't shabby by any means either, and you wonder what could have been had he played more of the format.
Afridi was bombastic - or should we say 'Boom Boom'bastic - in every true sense.
#3 Virender Sehwag
#OnThisDay in 2004, Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score a triple-century in Tests against Pakistan 👏
Do you remember which city he achieved this memorable feat in? 🤔
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Of course, Virender Sehwag had to make this list. See the ball, hit the ball - a simple approach that yielded brilliant results in a glittering career that saw him finish as one of India's greatest openers in Test cricket while also striking two triple-hundreds along the way.
That he didn't shy away from going for a six even when he neared a milestone truly summed up Sehwag the batter. He would do it no other way, and it certainly worked. How many players can boast of an average of 49.34 and a strike rate of 82.23 for a sample size of over 100 Tests, eh?
Can the Indian team adopt the Bazball approach? Of course they can. They had one of their own do it many years ago!
#4 Adam Gilchrist
Birthday boy Adam Gilchrist has scored the most number of centuries by a wicketkeeper 🔥
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The man who was a revolution among wicketkeeper-batters, Adam Gilchrist is arguably the greatest in his field to have played Test cricket. It's safe to say that it was since the era of Gilchrist that the role of a wicket-keeper as a batter has developed considerably.
Counter-attacking with his flamboyant batting technique became archetypal of the left-handed batter, who was an instrumental part of the famed Australian team under Steve Waugh and then Ricky Ponting. At a time when wicket-keepers would be picked purely for their neat glovework, Gilchrist averaged a staggering 47.60 in 96 Tests, scoring 17 hundreds along the way.
There was never one like him before, and it'll take some matching him too in time to come. Perhaps the moniker 'Bazball' would have been named in his honor had he been around the circuit today!
#5 Andrew Flintoff
Oh boy! Only if Andrew Flintoff were to play the sport today! He would fit into England's Bazball template like a hand in a glove since he played it that very way and had a massive say in the hosts winning a historic Ashes series in 2005.
Flintoff was the quintessential maverick crowd-puller, a true box-office all-rounder with a style second to none. He made you watch Test cricket and commanded attention with his enterprising brand of cricket across departments - a fact reflected in a strike rate of 62.04 and a total of 82 sixes in the format.
Consistency wasn't necessarily Flintoff's forte, but that's understandable keeping in mind the highly aggressive approach he brought to the table. He was undoubtedly one of England's earliest 'Bazball'ers before the term became mainstream!
Which of these former cricketers' approach was your favorite? Have your say in the comments section below!