Why ‘dust bowl’ pitches in India might be good for Bazballing England
India in Cape Town earlier this month, otherwise known as the shortest match in the history of Test cricket, saw 33 wickets fall in just 642 balls. The conditions were very tough for batting. Only one batsman, across both the teams, scored in excess of 46 runs — Aiden Markram’s 106 in the second innings.
How did he do it? How did he overcome the extreme conditions that made batsmen’s job extremely difficult? The short answer is counterattack. Markram used only 103 balls during the innings and hit 17 fours and 2 sixes – that’s 75 per cent of the total runs he scored.
The logic behind this style of batting is that when conditions are extreme and your survival in the middle is more a matter of luck than skills, it’s better to play your shots and score as many runs as possible before you get that ball that has your name on it.
In the process, it may also disturb the line and length of the opposition bowlers and make things easier for the batsmen.
Digging trenches and waiting for the storm to subside only works when the pitch is expected to get better with the passage of time. When there is no such hope, making the most of whatever time you have is the right choice.
There have been many examples of such individual knocks in the past but if there is one that embodies this spirit of attacking cricket, it’s England. Since the arrival of Brendon McCullum as Test team coach and Ben Stokes taking over the captaincy, England have sought to re-write the rules of batting, and to some extent bowling also, in Test cricket.
England no longer try to defend their position.
They are always on the offensive. Going by the results they have achieved since, it’s working really well for them. So much so, it has been named as ‘Bazball’,
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