Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has predicted that Bazball is not going to work against India in the upcoming five-match Test series. Bazball has worked wonders for England since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have taken over the head coach and captaincy roles respectively.

England batters have consistently scored at a rapid pace and the positive results are palpable. But it is not going to be easy for the English team to replicate the same success against the potent Indian spin battery.

India has a potent spin battery as they have spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav in their squad.

On the other hand, England has suffered a huge blow before the Test series as Harry Brook has returned home due to personal reasons. Furthermore, England has an inexperienced spin bowling line-up as Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed haven’t played much at the top level.

Harbhajan Singh said as per Hindustan Times: “Bazball won’t work. The conditions are going to be pretty difficult for England. Pitches will turn from the first day, and if you have an accurate spinner, he will take wickets.

“On both sides, actually. Toss becomes pretty important on such wickets. I don’t think England have a chance unless there isn’t much to offer for spinners.”

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has produced the goods as England’s Test captain. Under his stint, England have won 13 out of the 19 Test matches they have played. Moreover, England hasn’t yet lost a single Test series under Stokes’ leadership.

India and England will take on each other in the first Test match from 25th January onwards at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.

India’s squad for first two Tests vs England

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan