In the first over of the last session in this first Ashes 2023 Test between England and Australia, Joe Root did something extra-ordinary. This modern-day batting great would have never played this shot 15 months ago when he was leading the England Test side. But a lot of change has happened since Ben Stokes took over and Brendon McCullum became the head coach. We will discuss this, in detail, ahead but for now, let's get back to this shot from Root. The England No 4, opened up his body against Scott Boland and reverse-scooped the ball over the third man region with utmost ease. This is a not Test match shot, some purists would say, yet it was quite effective as it fetched England six runs. But more than that, it sent a message to the opposition that even their good balls will be hit for maximum. Yes, in this format as well.


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Now lets go back to the style of cricket Stokes and McCullum have introduced to the world. It is called 'Bazball'. What is Bazball? It is exactly the shot Root played in the first over of the last session. As England rebooted their Test side last year after humbling defeats in India and Australia, one of the key changes that McCullum, who himself was a strokemaker, brought was being aggressive with the bat. England have been playing with the same mindset for over a year now. They have tasted great success too, winning series at home and also beating Pakistan in Pakistan. 



England's Bazball on Day 1 of 1st Test vs Australia


Root, a classic Test batter, has shed that tag and adopted 'Bazball'. England are hellbent on sticking to this brand of cricket, no matter what, even against world champions Australians during Ashes. Their 'Bazball' mindset reflected in the way the English batters took on Pat Cummins and Co on the first day of the first Test. Openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley scored 22 off first 22 balls before one of them fell. Duckett departed for 12 off 10 balls. Crawley scored a 73-ball 61, with a strike rate of 83.56. Ollie Pope had a poor outing, but he too scored 31 off 44 balls, strike rate not less than a 70.  Harry Brook scored his 32 runs at strike rate of 86.49. Joe Root consistently batted with a stike rate of over 65 the whole day. And Jonny Bairstow, making a Test comeback, after almost a year, struck at over 90. 


How India played against Australia in WTC final


England kept on losing wickets but the Three Lions never went into a shell. Compare this with strike rate of the Indian batters, who were coming into the World Test Championship 2023 final (WTC 2023), straight from IPL 2023. In the first innings, Rohit Sharma scored 15 off 26 balls (SR 57.69), Shubman Gill made 13 off 15 balls (86.67). Cheteshwar Pujara scored 14 with SR of 56 while Virat Kohli scored 14 too with low strike rate of 45.16. Ajinkya Rahane played with as strike rate of 68.99 and had a big impact in the first innings. The two batters who also helped India reach 296 in first innings - Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur - played their innings with a strike rate of 94.12 and 46.19. 


India's learning from Bazball


The Indians tried to approach he second innings with an aggressive mindset but it did not help their cause because they did not have players who could do that for long. Rohit, Pujara and Virat have been great players for India but they do not seem to be the best players to approach 'Bazball' style of play. 


The lesson for India from England's 'Bazball' cricket is not just to adopt the new model but also bring in players who can help implement the style on the ground. Otherwise you would end up with an ugly sight of Pujara helplessly going for an upper cut and getting out. If not, India must find their own way to play Test cricket. 


Rishabh Pant is the only Indian batter who was playing 'Bazball' even before the term was coined. He was replaced by KS Bharat. It was probably like replacing a tank with a pistol in a battlefield. India won't find aggressive batters in the Test arena overnight. For that purpose, BCCI must start India A tours and pick players who will take Indian Test cricket forward. And forward approach is 'Bazball'. The Yashasvi Jaiswals, Prithvi Shaws, Tilak Varma's can help transform Indian Test side. However, they will need India 'A' experience before we start the revamp of the national side.