"They may get blown away and absolutely destroyed" - Michael Vaughan issues warning to England's Bazball tactic for India Tests
Former England captain Michael Vaughan issued a blatant warning to their Bazball tactic coming unglued during their tour to India. England will play five Tests in India, with the first one starting on January 25 in Hyderabad.
Following several shocking losses, England's adoption of the Bazball style of batting, named after their head coach, Brendon McCullum, has paid rich dividends. Under McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes, the side have not lost any of their last six Tests and won 13 of their previous 18 red-ball games.
Yet, Vaughan pointed to their struggles in executing the Bazball method against Australian spinner Nathan Lyon at home in the recent Ashes. With Lyon part of the opening two Tests, England trailed 0-2 before rallying to level the series 2-2.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Vaughan was skeptical of Bazball working against three quality Indian spinners on turning wickets.
"If you add in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel on spinning wickets in India, they may get blown away, they may get absolutely destroyed. They will go out and play exactly the same way, we’ve already spoken about the impact they are going to try and achieve in India with the way they play," said Vaughan.
He added:
"It will be great watching, but you will have to fancy three quality spinners might do a job on England when one quality spinner in Nathan Lyon did the job in English conditions. It’s going to be very tough for them to win in India."
England recently named a 16-member squad led by Ben Stokes for the Indian tour, featuring three uncapped players - Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson, and Tom Hartley. They suffered a 3-1 defeat the last time they played a Test series in India in 2020/21.
"It’s been a revelation in the last 18 months" - Michael Vaughan
Despite questioning its success in India, Michael Vaughan admitted being a massive fan of England's Bazball method.
With a high-risk and high-reward approach, England have thrilled fans across the globe with an entertaining brand of Test cricket over the past year and a half.
"I’m a huge admirer of Bazball, I think it’s been a revelation in the last 18 months and there’s not one Australian that can look me in the eye and say they didn’t admire the way England played in the Ashes. ll right they didn’t win the Ashes but the way England went about their cricket was fantastic, everyone loved watching them play, it’s risky, at times it is bonkers," said Vaughan.
Vaughan added:
"There are times where it is absolutely crackers but it’s great to watch and I’ve not met one Australian, they have enjoyed watching them play."
Although the Bazball method had its share of criticisms during the recent Ashes series, it drew tremendous attention to a floundering Test format.
Following defeats in the opening two Tests, England rebounded to win two of the subsequent three outings to end the series in a 2-2 draw.