‘Bazball was a failure’: Geoffrey Boycott slams England’s batting after loss against India in Visakhapatnam
‘Bazball was a failure’: Geoffrey Boycott slams England’s batting after loss against India in Visakhapatnam
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England batting great Geoffrey Boycott gave a thumbs down to ‘Bazball’ after Ben Stokes’ England went down to India in the second Test at Visakhapatnam. England fell short in their chase of 399 runs and were dismissed for 292. With this win, India drew level in the series and Boycott said that England’s high-risk strategy doesn’t guarantee success.
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Boycott was not convinced with the tactics and criticised England for squandering a winnable match. He wrote about England’s downfall and how their aggressive mindset, under the influence of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, was the reason behind the loss.
“It’s as if they say ‘If we can’t win, we will go down in glorious failure instead. But there is no glory in failure or defeat. Bazball is great entertainment when it comes off. But once you believe in an ideal over substance then you have lost the plot. Today England gave the match away. Bazball was a failure,” Boycott wrote.
Read | England leave for Abu Dhabi after losing 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam
He even drew parallels to England’s struggles in the 2023 Ashes series. The former opener said that England need to learn from past mistakes, especially with their batting as their approach had already seen them lose important matches.
“You would have thought England had learned from giving away the Ashes last summer. The ‘gung ho’ batting at Edgbaston and Lord’s gave two Tests matches away. Runs win Test matches, not style,” he added.
Read | India click as a unit on Day 4 to seal series-levelling triumph in Vizag
For England, Zak Crawley showed promise in Visakhapatnam with two scores in the 70s. He looked the only batter who was prudent with his strokeplay. Boycott criticised the lack of support from the rest of the team and spoke about the importance of at least one batter converting their innings into a big hundred.
“Batting has always been about being able to adapt to the circumstances, whether that is conditions or the opponents. Pick your moments when to attack and defend. If a particular bowler is in a good spell then just stay in and get through it,” he wrote.
