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Has Bazball gone missing? Former India opener trolls England for giving up their methods and narrative at Lord’s.
Joe Root made his slowest 50 of BazBall era on Thursday (Picture Credit: AP)
Former India opener Aakash Chopra took a sly dig at England for giving up on their famous ‘BazBall’ approach during the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Lord’s. The hosts scored 251/4 in 83 overs of the first day after opting to bat first, with Joe Root and Ben Stokes remaining unbeaten at 99 and 39, respectively.
No English batter had a strike-rate of over 60 as England’s run rate of 3.02 runs per over became their slowest of the Bazball — named after Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum, who took over in 2022 — era. The Lord’s track was flat, albeit two-paced and India not only put the brakes on with some disciplined bowling but also regularly teased Ben Stokes’ team, demanding where was their old approach and the desire to ‘entertain’.
“Where is the Bazball, sir? There used to be a thing called Bazball, where is it nowadays?” Chopra continued the theme in a video on his YouTube channel. “It’s being said that it’s lost somewhere in St John’s Wood, because you played the entire day and scored only 250 runs.”
Root was at the centre of this change of methods, taking 157 balls for his fifty before slightly shifting the gears against the older ball.
“This was Joe Root’s slowest half-century in the Bazball era. Ever since the era started, he had started hitting, and many times we asked the question why he was in such a hurry. Let others play as they want, but Joe Root is like the root of a tree. So, he too realized that he hadn’t scored runs in the first two matches and that he would bat respectfully now,” Chopra added.
The broadcaster also taunted the change of narrative for the English from aggressive entertainers to ‘not stupid’ ones since going behind in the second Test at Edgbaston.
“Bazball was totally discarded, no matter who the batter was, from No. 1 to Ben Stokes. Now all of them have started saying that they are not mad, that they say they want to win, but can also play for a draw, that’s also an option. They know they have to play fast, but they have the option to play slow too,” he said.
Chopra noted that this change was more due to a ‘lack of planning’ and ‘second-option’ in the England camp.
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