AA Edit | Indian Summer In England?

Bazball. That word, modelled on England coach Brendon McCullum’s brisk-scoring approach to Test matches, has been English cricket’s buzz word ever since the New Zealander took over the reins. An explosive former opening batsman, McCullum was nicknamed Baz (short for bazooka) for his belligerent batting — remember he had lit up the IPL with an unbeaten 158 in just 73 balls for the Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural match back in 2008.

Post his playing career, Baz pencilled the perspective in his coaching manual and got the Englishmen to execute it with much success, largely at home though. Bazball does have its pitfalls. It does not roll smoothly on all surfaces and in different conditions. It flies on a flatbed and looks flawed when the ball begins to do a bit. That’s precisely why Ben Stokes & Co. were caught unawares by Shubman Gill’s India in the second Test at Birmingham. The Edgbaston pitch was a far cry from what it was over the years and provided India a placid home surface in England. Gold. Gill and his men promptly cashed in on the generosity and turned tables on the hosts.

The captain led from the front, scoring a massive double century (269) in the first innings and following it up with a punishing 161 in the second to leave England with a mountain of runs (608) to climb to win the game in three-and-a-half sessions. Playing for a draw would have been the wisest option for the hosts given the near-impossible target. But the Bazballers had other ideas, which pushed them down to 72 for 3 in roughly an hour with the final day’s play coming up. Despite rain interruption, the team could not even last till tea time and were bowled out for 271 (thanks to seamer Akash Deep’s 6 for 99) to hand India a mammoth 336-run win.

Gill and the boys surely have their tails up now and will approach the remaining Tests with renewed vigour looking to rub salt into their rivals’ wounds as they aim to turn the English summer into an Indian one.