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One of the moments of instant recall for England playing Tests in India is Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal in the 2001 Bengaluru Test, to Ashley Giles’ loopy left-arm spin. Bored by England’s round-the-wicket leg-side bowling excess, Tendulkar, batting on 90, advanced down the track to be stumped for the only time in his career. The leg-side theory called upon by then England captain Naseer Hussain was a mini-battle won, but the negative ploy did not win him any laurels.
Let’s be sure, we will see no such thing from England under Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. England’s recent gung-ho method of playing Test cricket is best known for batting belligerence – their run rate 4.82 is 1.33 runs per over ahead of second best Australia in the same time span (June 2022 onwards). But they wouldn’t have won 13 out of the 18 Tests without a purposeful pursuit of 20 wickets.
In three of the five occasions England couldn’t produce a result; they lost one by two wickets, another by one run, and on the other occasion rain in Manchester denied them victory and the Ashes urn. England’s bowling average of 29.5 is not the same as leaders India and South Africa (26.3), who have played on very different pitches. But these are still England’s best bowling numbers (S/R 53.5) compared to their showing under different captains in the past two decades.
The essence of Bazball is to go hard with the bat to steal extra time for its bowling unit to bowl the opposition out twice. The tactical manoeuvring is constant. Bulldozing batting ways are garnished by quirky declarations. Equally importantly, aggressive bowling strategies are backed by unconventional selection calls.
The 18-year-old uncapped leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed was thrown into the deep end in Pakistan. Off-spinner Moeen Ali, 36, was recalled from retirement for the Ashes. Ahmed came through in flying colours while Moeen chipped in with bat and ball, England winning two of the four Tests he played while Australia escaped with a draw at Old Trafford.
England haven’t stopped taking risks. With rank turners expected in India, they have come with four specialist spinners. Jack Leach, Rehan and Tom Hartley have been named in the eleven for the Hyderabad Test. Hartley, who will make his debut, and yet-to-arrive off-spinner Shoaib Bashir have been picked despite their inexperience, for being tall spinners, taking a cue from India’s Axar Patel.
“The message within the bowling group always is how to take 20 wickets. It’s not about how to stop runs. It’s how do you look to get the opposition batter out,” said Chris Woakes. The swing bowler is playing for Sharjah Warriors in ILT20. But it was he who swung into action with 19 wickets in the final three Ashes Tests last year.
“Ben always sits on the more aggressive side with the fields,” Woakes said. There is no better example of that than the ‘Brumbrella’ field set to Australian opener Usman Khawaja on Day 3 of the Edgbaston Test. Crowded with six catching fielders in his eyeline; three on either side of the wicket, and with no slips, Khwaja, batting on 141, was pushed to break free and yorked by pacer Ollie Robinson.
“It’s hard to keep up with them all, he’s (Stokes) making a change almost every ball, which is great, it’s proactive captaincy,” former Australia captain Ricky Ponting then said.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was used extensively by Stokes even in England, for he brought variety to the bowling attack. Before injury sidelined him for the 2023 Ashes, Leach took 45 wickets in 13 Tests, mostly bowling on unresponsive pitches. “I’ll say ‘can we have mid-off out’, and he’ll (Stokes) be like ‘nope’. Then I’ll get whacked over the top and look around and he will be clapping and clapping, with a big smile. It just made me think ‘this is so great’,” Leach told the Guardian.
Leach returns to action against India as leader of the spin attack. Such an expansive bowling strategy to a Rohit Sharma on the charge may or may not be sustainable. And they do not have Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar’s quality in the spin attack like in the 2012-13 series win. But England won’t die wondering.
Stuart Broad, the most productive bowler (15 Tests, 67 wkts) is retired. In comes Mark Wood, the only fast bowler picked for Hyderabad to bowl his high impact short bursts.
“It’s as tough as it gets against India in India. But they will give it a go. One thing is sure, they will keep playing the way they know because it gives them the best chance to win,” Woakes said.
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