England on Sunday slumped to another defeat in the IND vs ENG Test series. The visitors, who won the first match of the 5-match series, faced consecutive defeats in the 2nd and 3rd Tests. With the defeats, England fell behind in the series after taking the lead. The Ben Stokes led side, chasing a mammoth target of 557 runs in the fourth innings, were bundled out for just 122. The English media came down heavily on the England team after the defeat. Top publications of UK going all out to criticize the approach the ‘Bazball’ approach.
England were on a good position till day 2 of the IND vs ENG 3rd Test. When England came out to bat on day 3, they were 207/2. However, things went downhill fast after that, with the visitors getting all out for 319. India capitalised on England’s failure in the first innings. They piled on a huge 430 runs in the second innings to provide England with a target of 557. England were lacklustre in their second innings, getting all out for a mere 122.
The manner of the defeat wasn’t looked upon kindly by the English media, who criticised the team’s performance severely.
“Ben Stokes’ side were flat, short of ideas and even began to look like England of old,” read a headline from an article of The Telegraph. The article went on to outline what exactly is going wrong for England in the IND vs ENG Test series, bearing comments such as, “England for once looked devoid of the enterprise, the ideas and the energy that have so often characterised their performances in the second half of Tests.“
“Dismal England thrashed by India in lowest moment of Bazball era” Independent wrote on their headline. “England never looked like living up to their billing as happy hunters,” the article said.
Taking the criticism further, The Telegraph wrote, “It is probably for the best that Ben Stokes has little interest in career milestones because his 100th Test match is one he will want to forget. This was his first genuine pummelling as England captain, India victorious by 434 runs to claim a richly-deserved 2-1 series lead after positively sticking their opponents in a tandoor.“
The Sun titled their article ‘Bazfall’ and said, “England will not abandon their aggressive Bazball style but it is clear the strategy needs tweaking – especially against the best teams.”
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