Ravichandran Ashwin’s prediction on Bazball’s limitation comes true as England suffer rare follow-on loss against New Zealand

The word “Bazball” has become very popular since last summer, when the English men’s cricket team, led by captain Ben Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum, adopted an aggressive playing strategy.

With the change in management, England has won 10 of their previous 12 Test matches, including a 3-0 rout of Pakistan. Yet in the second Test, played in Wellington against New Zealand, England experienced a spectacular collapse and lost by just one run.

What did Ashwin speak about Bazball?

Ravichandran Ashwin, while speaking about Bazball on his YouTube channel, said that “We now have a concept called Bazball. England is playing high-paced Test match cricket. They want to play a certain style of cricket. But in certain types of wickets, when you try and attack every ball, you will falter. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this approach.” 

The right-arm off-spinner then spoke about the pros and cons of such an aggressive approach. He said, “Some will ask instead of defending and getting all out for 100, I will slog it out and get all out for 140. We will only know when the game pans out that the approach works or not. Sometimes, on the wicket, conditions need to be respected. If you respect the pitch and play accordingly, the pitch will also respect you. If you respect the pitch, it will pay you dividends.”

How did the Test Match play out?

In the second innings, Jack Leach’s excellent line and length prevented New Zealand from taking a commanding lead. At the outset of the series’ final day, England still required 209 runs to win but lost Zak Crawley late on Day 4. In the second innings, New Zealand’s bowlers twice mounted comebacks.  They had England struggling at 80/5 before current captain Ben Stokes and former captain Joe Root worked together to lead the team forward.

Up until Wagner grabbed the strikes of the set batters, the match appeared to be going in England’s favour. Ben Foakes brought the team very close to the target before faltering on the final corner. When England required two to win, James Anderson choked one of Wagner’s deliveries down the leg side and was caught well by Tom Blundell. This completed New Zealand’s historic comeback and gave them an epic victory.