 "Jasprit Bumrah")
The term 'Bazball' will reverberate when fans talk about cricket in the next two months. The reason is India vs England's five-match Test series. Bazball could have received all the accolades for changing how Test cricket should be played in the modern era.
The combo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum changed the way Test cricket should be approached, which has become most result-oriented. England's bazball has the potential to bring crowds to the stadium. But that will come to reality in India when Test cricket is played on pitches supporting spinners.
But India's pace lynchpin Jasprit Bumrah sees an opportunity in England's aggressive approach.
"I don't relate to the term Bazball," he told British daily The Guardian. However, they are demonstrating to the world that there is another approach to playing Test cricket: playing successful cricket and adopting an aggressive style of taking on opponents, Bumrah said
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"I believe that as a bowler, it keeps me in the game. They won't wear me out if they're playing fast and aggressively, so I could get a ton of wickets. I'm constantly considering how I can make the most of things. Kudos to them, but you play the game as a bowler."
Spin vs Pace Debate on Indian Pitches
When India locks horns with England on the morning of January 25 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, it will be Bumrah's only 5th game on home soil. During England's 2021 tour to India, Bumrah played only two of the four Tests and bowled 48 overs in total.
Bumrah took only four wickets in the two matches, while 59 wickets were shared between Axar Patel and R Ashwin.
| Bumrah Test record in India and outside India | |||||||||||
| Mat | Runs | HS | Bat Av | 100 | Wkts | BBI | Bowl Av | 5 | Ct | St | |
| Overall | 32 | 213 | 34* | 6.65 | 0 | 140 | 6/27 | 21.21 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| India | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1.66 | 0 | 14 | 5/24 | 15.64 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Overseas | 28 | 208 | 34* | 7.17 | 0 | 126 | 6/27 | 21.83 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
"T20s, ODIs, some days you might send down five slower balls and get five guys out when in a Test match they wouldn't have taken one," he said. "In Test cricket, there is no room for luck; the team with the best record wins; you cannot take 20 wickets by accident. White-ball cricket alone has never satisfied me, and I still think Test cricket is the best format."
The last time Bumrah faced England, in July 2022 in Birmingham, he was the captain of India, and he was the victim of their new, extremely aggressive style of Test match batting. A few things make the Test memorable, but Bumrah's small batting record of hitting Stuart Broad for 29 in a 35-run over stands out among them.
