"You can't just fall back on the old 'this is the way we play' mantra" - Nasser Hussain calls for England to play smarter in 4th Test against India
Nasser Hussain feels England batters must adapt to conditions better and make it count once set in the fourth Test against India in Ranchi, starting today.
After a sensational 28-run win in the series opener in Hyderabad, the visitors were soundly beaten in the second and third Test in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot by 106 and 434 runs, respectively. A major concern for the visitors has been the lack of three-figure scores, with only two batters - Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett - scoring a century in the series so far.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain called on the English batters to play with game awareness and make it count once set.
"You can't just fall back on the old 'this is the way we play' mantra, because Test cricket is all about adapting to conditions - especially in India, where the nature of the pitch can change almost overnight during the course of a five-day Test. If you get in, you need to make it count. Look at the first three Tests: England won the first after Ollie Pope's magnificent 196, before India hit back with successive double-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and 131 from Rohit Sharma," wrote Hussain.
Hussain pointed to an example of England adapting to the short-ball tactic in last year's Ashes to bounce back in the series.
"They've done it before. Think back to the Ashes, where they became better at playing the short ball after that hook-happy collapse at Lord's. Bazball, as they keep telling us, is about smart cricket, not headless cricket. They need to prove that point again now," added Hussain.
Despite playing at home, England trailed 0-2 in the Ashes before bouncing back to win two of the final three Tests and end the series with a 2-2 draw.
The Rajkot defeat was only their sixth in 21 Tests since the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes combination took over as coach and captain in mid-2022.
"Fact that he has a point to prove will bring out the best in him" - Nasser Hussain on Jonny Bairstow's dismal form
Nasser Hussain believes struggling batter Jonny Bairstow could be destructive if he could go through the initial stage of his innings unscathed.
The 34-year-old has been in horrific form over the first three Tests, scoring 102 runs at an average of 17. Bairstow endured his worst outing in the third Test at Rajkot with scores of 0 and 4.
"For Bairstow, the key - as it is for so many visiting batters in India - is to get through those first 20-30 balls when it's turning and Ravindra Jadeja is spearing them into your pads, making it tough to sweep. If he can do that, he can be destructive, but he has to give himself a chance. Perhaps the fact that he has a point to prove will bring out the best in him," wrote Hussain.
A veteran of 98 Tests, Bairstow has struggled for consistency since returning from a leg injury in the middle of last year with only three half-centuries in 15 innings.
Should he play the remainder of the series, he will complete the historic 100-Test landmark in the series finale in Dharamsala.