Team India recently defeated England 4-1 in the five-match test series played between the two sides. This is the first time that England has been defeated in a series since the start of the Bazball era.
After England’s defeat in a series against India, India’s star offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin made a bold statement on Bazball in his YouTube video. Ashwin said that England’s same style of play in almost every match cost them the series.
In his YouTube video, Ashwin said,Test cricket, or any other form of cricket for that matter, cannot be played like an airplane on a runway. We cannot step on the pedal and accelerate until we take off! It’s the same as driving on highways. Sometimes, when I think of it, is it because of how they drive in England? Driving in England is bliss. No one comes in between. You can keep driving in the same lane. We cannot overtake on the left. They never expect unexpected things. If they see something unexpected, they crash. I have a feeling they will be very confused if they see how we drive in India.”
Ashwin further added, “In India, you cannot always drive in fourth gear. We keep changing gears. We always keep one foot on the brake. This concept is alien to them! Crawley always gets momentum but cannot keep it going. Bazball is about the transfer of pressure onto the opponents. But after the transfer of pressure, what happens? They should be like, ‘We have to make them pay!’ If they manage to do that, then the game is on. This series would have gone their way with the inexperience we had in our ranks. They had a huge chance. Even before they came here, they were down 0-2 in the Ashes and leveled it at 2-2. They then plundered Pakistan at their home. But this series loss is something that Ben Stokes and Co. could learn from.”
Ashwin’s Century: Rewriting Cricket History against England
R. Ashwin was one of the major reasons why India defeated England in the fifth test match. Ashwin picked up nine wickets in his 100th test match for India.
Ashwin has become the number-one test bowler in recent ICC rankings, surpassing his teammate Jasprit Bumrah.
