‘England will attack the spinners’: Gavaskar on why Bazball ‘can work in India | Cricket

England’s Test team has captured the cricket world’s imagination with their ultra aggressive approach, which has since been dubbed ‘Bazball’ after Brendon McCullum, ever since the former New Zealand captain took over as head coach and Ben Stokes became captain. England are yet to lose a series since the pair have taken over, with the team maintaining scoring rates during matches that might at times be high even for an ODI game.

However, the sheen came off a bit when England failed to win the Ashes at home against Australia and now there are questions about whether they can stand up against the might of India’s spin attack consisting of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the upcoming five-match Test series in the country. England are the last team, and the one of just two sides in this century, to have managed to beat India in a Test series at their home but the latter have since gone on a run in which they lost three matches in over 10 years.

Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar however does feel that Bazball could work for England in India. “It can work in India, it can. If you look at it, in the last few years, the boundaries have become smaller. The bats have become better and better and even mishits are flying over the boundary,” Gavaskar said on Star Spots.

‘They will try to hit them into the stands’

Gavaskar said that England would try to throw the spinners off their plans by looking to score big off them early on. “I think the England batters will try to attack the spinners out of the game. They will try to hit them into the stands. Yes, they might get dismissed in the process, but you create a mentality. Our spinners also play a lot of T20 cricket. What’s your mentality in T20 cricket, there it’s okay if you don’t pick up wickets, but you are careful not to concede sixes or boundaries. Your flight and line… you tend to change it,” he said.

“Even in Test cricket, if you are attacked at the start of your spell, if you concede a couple of sixes, there is a possibility that our spinners might try to reduce the flight and change the lines and lengths.”

Gavaskar said that this is why he feels the first Test, which will be played in Hyderabad from January 25, will be crucial. “We have to see how the pitch plays out in Hyderabad. In Hyderabad, the pitch often tends to be good for the batters. There is a bit of pace and bounce. It will be a very interesting test,” Gavaskar added. It will be a very interesting test for Bazball against our spinners,” he added.