Anil Kumble asks Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum to retrospect their Bazball after series defeat against India

England have suffered their first series defeat under the leadership of Ben Stokes and after escaping the defeat with Bazball for seven consecutive series, they learned it the hard way against India.

The hosts have taken an unassailable lead in the series and former Indian spinner Anil Kumble wants Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum to retrospect the Bazball strategy. India has sealed the series by winning the fourth Test which was played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi.

Anil Kumble, while speaking to the official broadcasters said that the challenge for England was obvious here and India was not going to be easy for the Bazballers. He mentioned that India has not lost a Test series at home since the last decade.

Anil Kumble reckons England’s middle order did not contribute well including the likes of experienced players like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and skipper Ben Stokes. He also explained, where England missed the trick against India.

“See the challenge when England came here was obvious. India is not going to be easy. Bazball, whatever ball you call it… but it’s not going to be easy beating India at home. That is the reason why India has been so dominant over the years.”

“Last decade, India has never lost a series at home. They knew they had to be different but their bowling attack wasn’t certainly something that they believed would be able to penetrate the Indian batting,” Anil Kumble said while speaking to the host broadcaster.

“Once they got to know that some of the senior players won’t be available, with an inexperienced line-up, they had a chance, but senior batters didn’t contribute consistently in that middle order, including Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, and even Joe Root – other than this Test match, so that’s where I thought they missed a trick there.”

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Anil Kumble cites Shubman Gill’s example to make his point clear on Bazball

“It’s all nice to say ‘ok, this is the way I bat’. But you can’t do that all the time. Shubman Gill would have loved to pump every ball for a six off the off-spinner, and I’m sure the thought process was there, the intent was there.”

“But you’ve got to hold back. In Test match cricket, that’s what it is. It’s about situations and that’s what Root did in Ranchi. No wonder he was successful. So it’s something England will have to discuss and look at. Not just about the aggressive approach but even the defense,” added Anil Kumble.

England won the toss and elected to bat first in Ranchi. They scored 353 in the first innings as Joe Root scored an unbeaten 122 off 274 balls. India, on the other hand, scored 307 laying back on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 73 (117) and Dhruv Jurel’s 90 (149). Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav spun their web to get England bundled for 145 in their second innings as both took figures of 5/51 and 4/15 respectively in the second innings.

India won their 17th consecutive Test series at home as they defeated England by 3-1, winning three matches on the trot after losing the series opener in Hyderabad by 28 runs. The hosts won in Vizag by 106 runs, in Rajkot by a record 434 runs, and in Ranchi by five wickets. The fifth and final Test of the series will be played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, commencing on March 7.

Also Read: Michael Atherton slams Ollie Robinson after England lose their first Test series in the Bazball era