During five manic weeks of the English summer of 2022, Test cricket was turned on its head by a maverick coach-captain duo.
Four Tests were won, back-to-back, by chasing targets ranging from 277 to 378, at run-rates ranging from 3.53 to 5.98.
Bazball had arrived. And Bazball has survived.
The next seven weeks, however, will tell us how this fearless brand of cricket conceptualised and executed by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes could cope up with its biggest challenge yet: the tour of India.
The Indians haven’t lost a Test series at home after 2012. They have, in fact, won 16 successive home series after that. In the 46 Tests that they hosted since 2013, they won 36 and lost just three.
They must be hoping to maintain that enviable record as they take on England in the five-match series. The first Test gets underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Thursday.
This is indeed a much-anticipated series between two teams that have played some excellent Test cricket in recent times. The entire cricket world must be curious to find out how the relentlessly attacking England batters will deal with India’s potent spin attack on – what could very well be – turning tracks.
The visitors seem convinced that the pitch here will have plenty of turn. They have included three frontline spinners in their playing eleven. They have another excellent option in Joe Root – he had taken five for eight in the third Test at Ahmedabad three years ago.
Also read: IND vs ENG Test | I wouldn’t say we are not beatable: Rohit
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was the pick of that England attack, with 18 wickets. The other spinners have played just one Test between them. Tall left-arm spinner Tom Hartley is making his debut, while leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed had made his, a year ago in Pakistan with a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
One of the stars of England’s 3-0 whitewash of that series, Harry Brook, has flown back home though. It is a setback, but the batting line-up still looks formidable, in the form of Root, Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and the dashing opening duo of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
England could take heart that India is without its best batter. Virat Kohli has withdrawn from the first two Tests because of personal reasons (he has been replaced by Rajat Patidar). But in familiar conditions, Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer could ensure enough runs for the Indian bowlers, among whom the focus could well be on R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
It will be intriguing to find out how they spin the ball against the Bazball.
The teams (from):
India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, K.S. Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan.
England: Ben Stokes (Capt.), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Dan Lawrence, James Anderson and Gus Atkinson .
Match starts at 9.30 a.m.
