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England cricket team head coach Brendon McCullum© AFP
England cricket team head coach Brendon McCullum continued to show his support for ‘Bazball’ despite his team losing the five-match Test series against India. The visitors won the first match in Hyderabad but ended up losing three matches in a row with experts and fans criticising their style of play and questioning their ability to adapt according to situations. However, McCullum said that they have improved over the last 18 months and added they are capable of doing “some special shit”.
‘There’s times in games where we haven’t quite screwed down our method just yet. We’ve lost here, didn’t win the Ashes (2-2), but we’re a better team than 18 months ago, and we’ve got an opportunity in the next 18 months to do some special shit,” McCullum told the UK media.
”We’ll keep chiselling away at those rough edges. It’s not a bad time to be coach of the England team.”
India lead 3-1 in the series with the last game scheduled in Dharamsala from March 7. The team’s last home series loss was a 1-2 defeat to an Alastair Cook-led England in 2012-13. Since then, India have won 39 out of 50 Tests at home.
The host team’s victory marked a stunning downfall for ‘Bazball’, which has been a much-hyped winning mantra for England since 2022 and is now facing all-round criticism for being too rigid and lacking in depth.
Conceptualised after the appointment of Brendon McCullum as coach and Ben Stokes as captain, England’s plan to attack irrespective of circumstances found its match in the unflappable approach of the Indians.
While the visitors remained stubborn barring the conservative hundred by veteran Joe Root, the Indians adapted and refused to be bogged down by setbacks.
(With PTI inputs)
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