'Usually in Tests you're not used to ...- Kuldeep Yadav on the Bazball tactic

There was a big debate on how India will be able to counter England’s team fearless batting approach which is termed Bazball. This term is derived from the name of Kiwi legend and current England coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum. This is where the England batters have changed the nature of Test cricket, where the English batters are seen scoring runs freely. This has completely changed the perspective of the game which was all about surviving at one time. However, the last game of the series saw a negative side of the tactic as well, even though it was Jasprit Bumrah whose spell was amazing there was also one more spinner who made a difference as well.

India Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who was playing his 9^th Test match last game was making a comeback into the longest format as well. Bumrah’s six-fer might have been the main highlight of the match, but we still cannot forget the contribution of Kuldeep as well. Kuldeep took three wickets in the 1^st innings in Vizag, getting the big breakthroughs of Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes and Rehan Ahmed. This was a solid comeback for the 29-year-old wrist spinner in his 9^th Test match against a strong England batting lineup.

Kuldeep on Bazball

Kuldeep might have played only 9 games in his Test career so far due to being dropped from the team for a long time, but he still has great numbers in the game with 38 wickets at an average of only 22.74. Kuldeep looked at his best when he was setting up the batters beautifully in his comeback match. Kuldeep also gave his opinion on Bazball saying “ Usually in Tests, you're not used to teams attacking you with this kind of approach [Bazball], but it also involves you a lot more." Kuldeep also mentioned that it makes him more focused going into the match as well.

Kuldeep further stated how the tactic has made it easier to take wickets for him as well stating “Normally when you play Tests, you don't worry about batters attacking you, you're only focused on how you want to get them out. But here the approach is different, they're in attacking mode so you also have to plan how to restrict them. When they play shots, you have those many opportunities to take wickets.” With this statement, Kuldeep has proven that there is a kryptonite to this tactic and he does not mind the approach. It will be interesting to see what Kuldeep’s plans are going into the last three games as well.