"Where is Bazball going?" - Aakash Chopra on the road ahead for England after going 2-0 down in the Ashes
Aakash Chopra has questioned whether England will alter their 'Bazball' approach after going 2-0 down in the five-match Ashes series.
Australia defeated England by 43 runs in the second Test at Lord's in London on Sunday (July 2) to consolidate their position in the series after a two-wicket win in the first game at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Ben Stokes smashed 155 runs off 214 balls in the hosts' second innings at Lord's but couldn't take his team across the line.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was unsure whether England can continue with 'Bazball', especially considering their lack of potency in the bowling department:
"What about Bazball now? England are 2-0 down. Will they review their game plan? Where is Bazball going? I feel this team's bowling is slightly ordinary. It is not up to the level of cricket that they want to play."
The former Indian opener highlighted that the ongoing Ashes is a contest between two contrasting approaches:
"It is a battle between philosophies. There is an entertaining brand of cricket that England want to play and then there is methodical cricket that Australia want to play."
Chopra pointed out that Usman Khawaja is the epitome of the Australian approach:
"Usman Khawaja is probably the flag bearer of that, he has played the most deliveries but has the least strike rate. It is not competitive but it is extremely effective. That's what he is trying to do."
Khawaja is the top run-getter in the ongoing Ashes. His 300 runs in four innings have come at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 38.70.
"It seems to be the more successful way of doing it" - Aakash Chopra on Australia's conventional Test match approach
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Australia's conventional approach has been more successful thus far in the Ashes:
"At this point in time, the method of playing Test matches for the last 150 years, it seems to be the more successful way of doing it. You will have to say that England are entertaining everyone, forcing everyone to watch them."
While acknowledging that Ben Stokes and Co. are playing entertaining cricket, the cricketer-turned-commentator is keen to see if they can sustain that approach if they continue to lose:
"They have said as well that Test cricket will die if they don't play like this. It is their thinking. It is a very noble thinking but for how long will you stick with it if the results don't go in your favor, that's something that we shall find out."
England were comfortably placed at 188/1 in their first innings after Australia posted 416 runs in their first essay. However, they were bowled out for 325 as most of their batters threw away their wickets while playing aggressive shots, which made a telling difference in the end.