England, sticking true to their revolutionary philosophy of ‘Bazball’, thrashed New Zealand by a massive 323 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, thereby clinching their first series win in the country since 2008. England were reeling at 43 for 4 in the first innings on a treacherous Basin Reserve wicket before Harry Brook smashed a breathtaking 123 off 115 deliveries to help his team to a competitive 280. England blasted away at a rate of 5.15 and dominated the Test thereafter.

The big question which then emerges is this – why couldn’t Rohit Sharma counter attack Scott Boland (just like England did in the Birmingham Ashes Test last summer) at the Adelaide Oval instead of cutting a sorry figure for himself and getting trapped leg before wicketfor just 3 off 23 deliveries? Why can’t India unleash their own version of Bazball – glimpses of which we saw in Kanpur in September – against Australia and at large as a philosophy in Test cricket?

England’s unprecedented success with Bazball

England were humiliated 4-0 in the 2021-22 Ashes Down Under and were then embarrassed by a low-ranked West Indian unit in the Caribbean. It led to a complete overhaul of their management and support stuff. Their traditional and orthodox approach to Test cricket needed a fundamental change and they gave the reigns to Brendon McCullum with Ben Stokes replacing Joe Root as captain.

England had seen a similar tectonic transformation in their limited-overs’ set-up post their early ouster from the 2015 World Cup in Australia. They adopted an all-out attack policy in limited-overs cricket dominating the format for the next few years before laying hands on the World Cup trophy at home in 2019. It was a similar story in T20 cricket too where they went on to win the World Cup in Australia in 2022.

It was time to replicate the success of white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket and that resulted in the birth of Bazball. Bazball is nothing but an attitude and approach where attack is the first form of defence, where batters do not fear the bowlers, reputations are of no value and the onus is on maximizing runs than on preserving wickets.

England have played 11 Test series since adopting Bazball in June 2022 and won as many as seven of them. These wins include a 3-0 sweep against New Zealand at home where they chased down 275+ run targets in three consecutive matches – twice at a rate of almost 6 an over! England also secured an emphatic seven-wicket win against India in the fifth and final Test at Edgbaston gunning down the target of 378 in under 80 overs! There were series wins against South Africa (at home) and an away 3-0 sweep in Pakistan. And then there was the historic Ashes of 2023 where England came back from 0-2 down to draw level.

In terms of match-win percentage, Bazball stands at an impressive 64.7% (won 22 of the 34 Tests) basically implying that England have won approximately two of every three matches with their new attacking template – that is a very high success percentage for any approach leave alone for Bazball which involves taking a high degree of calculated risk! It is the highest win percentage amongst all teams since June 2022 - even higher than Australia – who are the number 1 ranked ICC Test team currently. Australia have a win percentage of 60% in the same time frame. England batters have a combined batting strike rate of 72.95 since June 2022 and are way ahead of the pack with India at number two at 57.63.

Why can’t India adopt Bazball?

India, man for man, is by far the most talented and skilful batting unit in the world – in any format. Yet, they have been hesitant in breaking away from the norm and embracing a new strategy which has, in a very short span of time, brought rich dividends to one of their major opponents. The problem for India is not in the resources but in the attitude.

Every member of the England Test XI has embraced Bazball as a philosophy and live and die by it! Even traditional and orthodox Test batters like Root and Ollie Pope have taken to it and with some success. Batters with limited ability like Zac Crawley and Ben Duckett have led the way at the top of the order and newcomers like Harry Brook have only taken the aggression to a level higher.

The challenge for India is in the head and in the approach. Are they willing to take the risk for the collective good for the team? Or will they continue to play percentage cricket which has also brought them limited success but may not be enough to consistently beat SENA nations in their own backyard – which is the parameter for greatness for an Asian nation.

India did showcase glimpses of their own version of Bazball during their stunning seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in September when they smashed 285/9 at a rate of 8.22 which was a world record! They again displayed an appetite for taking risks and counter-attacking when their backs were against the wall in the series opener against New Zealand in Bengaluru in October.

However, a loss in the first Test and poor pitches in Pune and Wankhede meant that India could not be as aggressive with the bat as they would have liked in the remainder of the series. There were a few exceptions like Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings in Pune and Rishabh Pant in Mumbai but the team did not adopt Bazball as an ethos - like every member – even Virat Kohli – did in Kanpur. The fear of losing their wicket on two-paced turning tracks forced the Indian batters to play within themselves and that is where they perished against New Zealand.

Critics may argue that India won the Perth Test against Australia playing solid old-school attritional cricket. Yes, that was the need of the hour and that does not contradict the theory of Bazball. Bazball is often misunderstood for being a reckless approach to batting where the batters are attempting a boundary of every delivery they face. That is not true.

The underlying principle of Bazball is to maximize the options to score runs. There will be situations and circumstances owing to the pitch and overhead conditions and situation of the match when being circumspect and preserving your wicket is the need of the hour – and that is also a part of Bazball. But where it is different from a traditional approach is in the batter’s willingness and ability to take risks after negotiating the tough periods and in sometimes gauging these toughconditions and realizing that attack may be the best form of defence to counter the bowlers.

Only Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy had the courage to challenge the Australian bowlers in Adelaide but by the time they walked out to bat, in both innings, India were already way behind in the game. There was a strong case for an out of form Rohitto counter-attack Boland in the first innings – much like England did at Edgbaston in 2023. A similar argument could be made for Kohli who also succumbed to Boland poking outside off in the second innings.

India’s batters, especially the senior lot need to step out of their comfort zone in the twilight of their career and unleash their own version of Bazball. This should not be alien to them. After all, it was skipper Rohit himself who initiated a massive transformation in India’s approach at the top of the order, especially in the powerplay, in white-ball cricket post their early ouster from the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. That brought India great rewards including a stunning run at the 2023 World Cup at home before losing in the final and triumph at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

India has the talent and the resources to not only adopt Bazball but to own and master it better than any other team in the world. But do they have the will?