London: The Hyderabad Test loss should serve as wake-up call for India that England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy is effective on slow tracks as well, according to former captain Nasser Hussain.
Since embracing Bazball, England are yet to lose a Test series and they fashioned a memorable 28-run win on the back of Ollie Pope’s monumental 196 and debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley’s seven-wicket haul after conceding a massive 190-run first innings lead in the opening Test against India.
“India will probably rue their first innings. They got 436 but actually, they could have got a lot more if not for some sloppy dismissals. They will come back. They are a very fine side and history tells you it will be tough for England here,” Hussain wrote in his column for ‘Sky Sports’.
“But it is a wake-up call for India as England have shown Bazball can work in these conditions,” he said, referring to England’s ultra-aggressive approach under head coach Brendon McCullum.
Chasing 231 for victory, the Indian batters failed to put up a fight in the fourth innings.
“It shows they (England) have great self-belief. They have great belief in the way they are playing the game and do things their way. They don’t worry about outside noise, that other people would have selected other cricketers, that people thought they should have had warm-up matches.
“What I like about them is their stubbornness. If you doubt them, they’ll double down on it and go even more stubborn. I think that is a good thing because if you’re constantly listening to all the noise, all that’s written and said, you flicker from one theory to another,” Hussain wrote.
England vice-captain Pope embodied ‘Bazball’ as he swept, reverse-swept, and reverse-scooped deliveries with the formidable India spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel looking clueless in the second innings.
“They faced a 190-run deficit in the first innings but, against the [high-quality] spinners in the opposition, Ollie Pope then played one of the truly remarkable innings we have ever witnessed.”
The 55-year-old Hussain praised Hartley for his mental fortitude. After being hit around the park by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first innings, Hartley ripped through the hosts, bagging 7/62, including four of India’s top order in the fourth innings.
“Then you had Tom Hartley, who struggled in the first innings, taking seven wickets with his skipper Stokes backing him to the hilt. When you’re off the field, I think you forget the pressure to step up in standard when you’re making your Test debut.
“Nerves get to you and in that first innings Hartley did not bowl particularly bowl well. His variation in length would have disappointed him. So credit has to go to him for the second innings.
“In the cauldron of a Test match in India, when the whole world is talking about you and saying, ‘are you a Test match cricketer?’, to come out and bowl the way he did, it was not just about ability but about mental strength as well. He showed he is very strong mentally,” Hussain wrote.
