The 5-match test series against India was touted as the biggest test for the England team and many former England cricketers were of the opinion that playing a test series on the Indian soil will be the real test of Bazball.
Bazball is the term given to the aggressive approach adopted by the England team after Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as the skipper and the coach, respectively. The England cricket team got the perfect start as they emerged victorious in the first test match which was played in Hyderabad but the Indian squad bounced back in style as they won the next 4 test matches and sealed the series in their name by 4-1.
Though Rohit Sharma-led team missed the services of India’s best test batter Virat Kohli, the youngsters such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan rose to the occasion and played important role in India’s win.
Rohit Sharma also got applauded for his performance, both with the bat and the skipper but a former England cricketer Graeme Swann believes that Rohit Sharma was not superior to the England skipper Ben Stokes in any manner.
During an interview, Graeme Swann stated that he doesn’t think that Rohit Sharma was superior as a skipper because it was his bowlers who did the important work for him. He added that Rohit Sharma had more weapons in his armour which benefitted him as a skipper.
Graeme Swann further said that Rohit Sharma was good but it would be wrong to say that Ben Stokes led his team in a bad manner. He further said that Rohit Sharma’s bowlers came to the party in the last four test matches because of which they won all of them but they lost the first one as the Indian bowlers missed the party.
While many former England cricketers are blaming Bazball for England’s defeat in this series, Graeme Swann feels that England didn’t play Bazball in the series. He said that there was no Bazball if we leave one innings in this series, he added that the innings in which Ollie Pope scored 190, that was the innings which is the real definition of Bazball otherwise there was no Bazball.
Graeme Swann had no hesitation in saying that the England batters were not brave enough in this series and they didn’t play in the Bazball style because if they had, then this 5-match series would have got different results.
Graeme Swann was also full of praises for Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who got a fifer in his 100th test match.
Do you agree with Graeme Swann? What is your opinion in this regard? Let us know.