Geoffrey Boycott tears apart Ben Stokes after Rohit Sharma and Co expose Bazball

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott criticized England’s bowling lineup during the recently concluded Test series against India. Geoffrey Boycott expressed his lack of surprise over Ben Stokes and his team suffering a significant series defeat against India.

The Ben Stokes-led side suffered a series defeat of 1-4 in the five-match series, despite India missing key players. The visitors took an early advantage with a 28-run victory in Hyderabad. However, they failed to maintain momentum and lost four consecutive Tests.

England’s spinner, Jack Leach, was ruled out of the series after the first match. They fielded a young spin bowling attack, comprising Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, and Rehan Ahmed. Notably, they handed debuts to Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir during the recent tour.

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It Wouldn’t Frighten Anyone – Geoffrey Boycott

In his column for the Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott stated that the selectors picked inexperienced spinners like Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir. Boycott was disappointed with the ineffectiveness of fast bowler Mark Wood and the limited contribution from James Anderson.

“It wouldn’t frighten anyone: two raw kids in Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir with little first-class bowling as spinners, an ineffectual fast bowler in Mark Wood who just bangs the ball into the track with little movement, a great seamer in Anderson who was used sparingly because he is at the end of his career and an all-rounder Ben Stokes who was unfit to bowl until a bit in the last Test. No wonder it was 4-1,” Boycott wrote.

India dominated the top five wicket-takers list, with only one England bowler making the cut. Hartley emerged as England’s leading wicket-taker, claiming 22 wickets in 5 matches. Bashir impressed with two five-wicket hauls, ending the series with 17 wickets in 3 Tests.

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England Were Lucky That Virat Kohli Was Unavailable – Geoffrey Boycott

Geoffrey Boycott highlighted that India felt the absence of key players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the recent series. The former England batter stated that India dominated over England’s inexperienced bowlers.

“Inexperienced kids were never going to out bowl experienced Indian spinners in India. If anyone thought that then it was daft, wishful thinking. England were lucky that Virat Kohli was unavailable for all the series and KL Rahul only played one Test,” Boycott added.

Virat Kohli initially joined the Indian squad for the five-match series but withdrew before the first fixture due to the birth of his second child. KL Rahul, who featured in the first Test, was sidelined for the remaining four matches due to an injury to his right quadriceps.

England currently occupies the eighth spot in the World Test Championship points table, having won only three out of their ten Tests. With a mere 17.5% point percentage, Ben Stokes and his team are on the verge of elimination from contention for the WTC final in 2025.

England must win all their remaining matches in the ongoing WTC to secure a spot in the final. Their next red-ball series is against the West Indies in the upcoming English summer. The Three Lions will host three matches against the West Indies team.

Also read: “Ben Stokes made a big error…” – Geoffrey Boycott