India seem to have gained the upper hand in the IND vs ENG 1st Test at Hyderabad, having outfoxed England by disrupting their raw and aggressive ‘Bazball’ strategy. The visitors commenced their five-match Test series on the front-foot, maintaining a healthy run-rate until the Indian spinners came into play.
IND vs ENG: ‘Bazball’ flops in India?
Talking about the Bazball strategy that England have adopted under the leadership of coach Brendon McCullum, it has worked pretty much in their favour over the last couple of years. However, a concern that loomed over the India series is if the strategy would ever pay off and if it did, at what cost.
Amid a lot of buzz around the pitch and the conditions in India for the 1st Test, England did suffer a top-order collapse. This despite having a solid start from the openers. All six wickets, until after lunch, were shared between the pace trio of Jadeja-Axar-Ashwin. The collapse began with opener Ben Duckett being Ashwin and India’s first wicket in the series following which Jadeja struck.
A stunning grab from Siraj at mid-off marked Ashwin’s second wicket of the game. Axar Patel joined the partly shortly after, grabbing two more wickets, as India seemed set in their 1st innings.
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