‘We’re a better team than 18 months ago….’ – Brendon McCullum opens up after losing Test series vs India

England head coach Brendon McCullum has recently opened up about Bazball tactics after his side failed to win the Test series against India. Notably, the Ben Stokes-led England camp is trailing the series by 3-1 as they went on to suffer defeats in the second, third, and fourth Test matches and were only able to get a win in the opening Test match.

However, Brendon McCullum feels that there are a few instances where they lost the matches, but they didn’t give up on Bazball tactics and strategy. The former wicketkeeper batter accepted that they didn’t win the Test series against India as well as failed to win the Ashes back in June 2023. They levelled up the series by 2-2 against the WTC 2023 champions Australia. In addition to that, the 42-year-old coach feels that they have been playing great cricket for the past 18 months, irrespective of the win or the loss in the tournament.

“There are times in games where we haven’t quite screwed down our method just yet. We’ve lost here, didn’t win the Ashes (2-2), but we’re a better team than 18 months ago, and we’ve got an opportunity in the next 18 months to do some special shit. We’ll keep chiselling away at those rough edges. It’s not a bad time to be coach of the England team,” Brendon McCullum told the UK media.

Jonny Bairstow is quite an emotional character at times and big milestones like that do mean a lot to him: Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum also talks about star batter Jonny Bairstow, who is set to play his 100th Test match against India on March 7 in Dharamshala.

“It’ll be really emotional for him. Everyone knows Jonny’s story. He is quite an emotional character at times and big milestones like that do mean a lot to him. (In this match) he walked taller, looked stronger, and had that presence and that real Jonny Bairstow swagger to him. When he has that you kind of feel he’s never too far away,” he added further.