‘Bazball’ will falter on certain kind of surfaces, claims Ravichandran Ashwin

England have emerged as the most lethal Test team in recent times with their aggressive brand of batting against the red ball. Under the leadership of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, England adopted a new brand of cricket termed ‘Bazball’. The template has produced results for them so far as they have lost only one match in 11, including a record clean sweep in Pakistan. 

The team also have a firm grip on the ongoing second Test against New Zealand. Amidst all the praise of ‘Bazball’, Ravichandran Ashwin has pointed out its flaw saying the brand of cricket can fail on certain types of surfaces. 

“We now have a concept called Bazball. England is playing high-paced Test match cricket. They want to play a certain style of cricket. But in certain types of wicket, when you try and attack every ball, you will falter. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this approach,” Ashwin stated, reported NDTV. 

“Some will ask instead of defending and getting all out for 100, I will slog it out and get all out for 140. We will only know when the game pans out that the approach works or not. Sometimes, on the wicket, conditions need to be respected. If you respect the pitch and play accordingly, the pitch will also respect you. If you respect the pitch, it will pay you dividends.”