Brendon McCullum might claim he doesn’t like the term, but ‘Bazball’ will find a permanent place in cricketing lexicon. England have invested heavily in the high-risk, no-holds-barred attacking approach, which was on view in Hyderabad on Thursday too, but a new-age Indian batter steeped in orthodoxy reiterated the value of staying true to the basics while producing the most domineering knock on the opening day of the first Test.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is only 22, and while he is not a product of the 20-over format, it’s very much in his DNA like it must be for all young batters hoping to succeed in modern-day cricket. However, while he is an outstanding T20 batter, Jaiswal is equally at home in the five-day game, where he scores rapidly without indulging in the unconventional that England have made their calling card.
An excellent crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, in excess of 23,000, was treated to a sumptuous feast of batsmanship on an entertaining day one of the five-match series. Ben Stokes’ luck with the coin didn’t translate into commensurate runs on a surface that held few of the demons England had feared. True, there was turn, as is to be expected even on day one in India, but it was neither prodigious nor unpredictable. The bounce was even and the turn slowish, which all meant England’s 246 wasn’t above par by any stretch of the imagination.
England attacked the new ball when openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett weren’t playing and missing outside off. Former skipper Joe Root attempted numerous sweeps during his 60-ball stay, connecting a few, missing several and eventually falling to the same stroke. Stokes, England’s top scorer with 70, switched gears in the company of ten and Jack, playing fierce reverse sweeps that thudded into the fence barely nano-seconds after the ball left his bat. Even debutant Tom Hartley, at No. 9, and No. 10 Mark Woods, had no compunctions in going for the reverse. After all, this is how England play their cricket. Despite the rush of wickets, sometimes in clutches, the visitors scored at a rapid clutch – 3.81 to the over, 24 fours and four sixes in 64.3 overs.
India's response too good?
{{/usCountry}}England attacked the new ball when openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett weren’t playing and missing outside off. Former skipper Joe Root attempted numerous sweeps during his 60-ball stay, connecting a few, missing several and eventually falling to the same stroke. Stokes, England’s top scorer with 70, switched gears in the company of ten and Jack, playing fierce reverse sweeps that thudded into the fence barely nano-seconds after the ball left his bat. Even debutant Tom Hartley, at No. 9, and No. 10 Mark Woods, had no compunctions in going for the reverse. After all, this is how England play their cricket. Despite the rush of wickets, sometimes in clutches, the visitors scored at a rapid clutch – 3.81 to the over, 24 fours and four sixes in 64.3 overs.
India's response too good?
{{/usCountry}}How would India respond in the last 23 overs? Would they be circumspect and conservative, accumulating rather than amassing runs, with a nurdle here, a tickle there? No sir, they wouldn’t.
Jaiswal made his intentions clear early on. A flicked four through square-leg off a full delivery on leg from Wood – the first ball of the innings – gave way to an even more aggressive mien in the next over, left-arm spinner Hartley’s first in Test cricket. The first delivery was slog-swept over mid-wicket for a giant six, the fifth biffed over the square-leg fence with the same outcome. It was an early statement from someone playing just his fifth Test. Welcome to Test cricket, Tom, welcome to the harsh realities of life at this level. By the time Hartley was done with his opening spell, he had figures of 9-0-63-0. Talk about baptism by fire.
Jaiswal continued to bat with freedom and authority, but without sacrificing correctness or poise, balance or grace. He used his feet superbly, dancing down the track to drive through the off-side when the ball was tossed up, or going deep in his crease and pulling when it was dropped short. There was no madness, just method, to his batting. If there was anything iffy about him at all, it was his calling – or lack thereof – while running between the wickets, which attracted more than one gentle reprimand from his otherwise impressed skipper.
Rohit was no slouch even though Jaiswal hogged the strike. With runs flowing from both ends, India brought up 50 in just 6.3 overs, their fourth quickest 50 in Test history. It was a rate too frenetic to maintain without falling back on the risky, but India were in no mood to score at eight an over. There was no premeditation, no predilection towards one particular stroke or the other. Rohit’s dismissal staunched the bleeding a little with Shubman Gill opting to play the waiting game, but despite the No. 3’s 43-ball 14, India scored at 5.17 in their 23 overs.
Jaiswal, 52 off 48 at his skipper’s fall, ended the day on 76 off 70. ‘Playing for stumps,’ someone remarked when he dead-batted a loopy full ball from Rehan Ahmed with two overs remaining. As if slighted, he shimmied down and smote him over long-on for six in the same over. You have your ‘Bazball’, I’ll have my whatever, he seemed to say. And I’ll do it my way. Whyever not?