(Cricket News) The hosts leveled the five-match series 1-1 thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s incredible nine-wicket haul and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s remarkable century in the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has advised Joe Root to revert to his natural style of play and avoid being swayed by the ‘Bazball’ approach.
England has been steadfast in their commitment to maintaining their high-tempo batting approach, which has largely proven successful under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
Vaughan believes that Root, one of England’s batting legends, should forgo Bazball tactics and instead adopt a more conservative approach to his game. The English team has resorted to an unprecedented number of reverse sweeps in an attempt to adjust to the spin-friendly conditions in India.
Root, however, has struggled to find form, posting scores of 29, 2, 5, and 16 in the first two Tests. His unconventional dismissal in the second innings in Vizag left many English cricket legends, including Mike Atherton, frustrated.
It is time for someone in management to put an arm around Joe and say, “Please just be yourself.” I think it is as simple as the fact that he is too wrapped up in Bazball, the whole ethos of excitement and entertainment.
“They are in fifth gear from ball one,” Vaughan wrote in the UK Telegraph. “I do not mind some of them playing like that because they are better for it. But Joe Root should forget it. He has 10,000 Test runs playing like Joe Root. He does not need to be a Bazballer.”
Vaughan went on to call Root the “best player of spin” in English history, alongside Graham Gooch, and expressed frustration over the right-hand batsman “gifting” his wicket in the second Test. “This is particularly important against spin. To see him bat the way he did in the second innings, that is not Root, and it is not the way England are going to win in India, just gifting wickets away,” Vaughan wrote.
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