Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has ruled out any chances of England making a comeback in the ongoing five-match Test series against India. After winning the third Test match at Rajkot by a gargantuan margin of 434 runs, India took a 2-1 lead in the series.
The hosts thoroughly dominated the third Test match on the last two days of the Test match. Meanwhile, England won the opening Test by 28 runs after Ollie Pope scored a majestic knock of 196 runs. However, India bounced back strongly to win the second game by 106 runs to level the series with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah getting the job done.
Srikkanth reckons England’s strategy of Bazball can not work if they continue to play similarly.
“If possible, they can catch the next flight home. But, they have to play the remaining two Tests. I think this Bazball and all that are theories that they propagated. Where has it worked? Did it work in the Ashes? Frankly speaking, no strategy can work if they continue playing like this. There was so much hype about this Bazball theory. To back up all that talk, I think they needed the skill to bat in these conditions. You need the talent to bowl,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube Channel.
The former attacking opener feels Bazball won’t work in the long run for England. Srikkanth reckons the likes of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes could play aggressively from the get-go but it is not everybody’s cup of tea.
“I don’t think it (Bazball) will work in the long run. Just going there and trying to hit every ball… I think Brendon McCullum can bat like that, Ben Stokes can bat like that. Not everybody can do that successfully. Sometimes, you need to adapt. You can’t just keep on saying… I feel it’s overhyped. That’s my feeling. I may be wrong,” said Srikkanth.
India and England will next take on each other at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi in the fourth Test match from Friday.