New Delhi: Veteran India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has backed ‘Viratball’ against the Englands ‘Bazball’ approach in the upcoming five-match test series, starting in Hyderabad on January 25.
Bazball is a term associated with Ben Stokes-led side’s ultra aggressive approach since former New Zealand skipper Brendon Mcullum took over the England’s Head Coach charge in Test cricket in May 2022. Since June 2022, England have played 18 matches and scored at an run rate of 4.82, winning 13, losing four and one game resulted in a draw.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “The way he's (Virat Kohli) been batting, his movement looks good. With the form that he's in, we have Viratball to counter Bazball.”
The 35-year-old Virat has scored 8842 runs in his red-ball career so far and needs only 152 runs to become the only fourth Indian to complete 9000 Test runs, and will be India's batting mainstay. He has 29 fifties and 30 centuries in 113 matches.
“Yeah, conversion means having more hundreds than fifties. With Kohli, he has a similar number of hundreds and fifties, that means he has a good conversion rate," he added.
England drew their previous series against India at home in 2022. However hosts India have been unbeaten in a Test series since their 1-2 loss to England in 2012 season, remain a formidable opponent.
The test series promises an intriguing clash between India’s spin prowess led by Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and stokes-led side’s ultra aggressive approach with both, bat and ball.
“England have adopted a new approach in Test cricket in the last 1-2 years. It's an aggressive approach where batters look to attack. They just want to play attacking cricket no matter the situation. It'll be interesting to see if this approach works against the spinners of India,” Former Indian cricketer added.
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