England under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have caught the imagination of the cricketing world with their aggressive stroke play and declarations to eke out victories on dead pitches in their ongoing three-match Test series in Pakistan. England have won the two Tests in thrilling fashion, making aggressive declarations while their batters continue to set new records for the speed at which they score runs. They had notably become the first team to score 500 runs on the first day of a Test match during the first game.
England were already out of contention for a spot in the 2023 WTC final while Pakistan are also now out of the race after their loss in the second Test. With third-placed Sri Lanka's place also doubtful, India have a good chance at making it into the top two spots if they can avoid defeats in their six remaining matches of this cycle, which starts with a two-Test series in Bangladesh. KL Rahul, standing in as captain of the team for the injured Rohit Sharma in Bangladesh, has said India will also be aggressive in their own way with qualification for the WTC final in mind.
“I think it is really exciting,” said Rahul in a press conference on Monday when asked about England's approach, popularly termed ‘Bazzball' after their head coach Brendon McCullum under whom they adopted this approach. "I was watching these two matches against Pakistan. Really enjoyed watching Test cricket being played like that. Very fearless, aggressive, taking the game on. That has worked for them - each team has their own way. All teams can learn a thing or two from teams that are doing well and look at what is working for them.
{{/usCountry}}“I think it is really exciting,” said Rahul in a press conference on Monday when asked about England's approach, popularly termed ‘Bazzball' after their head coach Brendon McCullum under whom they adopted this approach. "I was watching these two matches against Pakistan. Really enjoyed watching Test cricket being played like that. Very fearless, aggressive, taking the game on. That has worked for them - each team has their own way. All teams can learn a thing or two from teams that are doing well and look at what is working for them.
{{/usCountry}}“Like I said, it is not always going to be the same approach. You always turn up according to the conditions an where you are. There is a WTC final qualification that is there for us (to consider) so we will have to be aggressive as well. We know where we stand and what we need to do to qualify for that final. We will assess on that given day. It is Test cricket, each day, each session we will have to assess what is required for the team in that particular moment and try and give it our best and enjoy each day as well,” he said.
Rahul said that what England are doing is not reckless as they have a plan. “I don't think it's reckless cricket. They have a certain mindset, thought about it and they back their players and the players are doing the job for them. It doesn't matter how you have done it, you want to get the result. That is the mindset for every cricketer when they play for their country and whatever suits that player and team, you have to do it. Cricket is evolving, there is no set way of how this game needs to be played. It is upto the players in the middle to assess what the best thing is to do for the team and as leaders we back that,” he said.