'We have Viratball to counter Bazball' - Former India skipper comments ahead of India vs England first Test in Hyderabad

The legendary India batter, Kohli has been included in the 16-member squad for the initial two matches of the five-Test series against England and is only 152 runs away from joining the exclusive club of India batters with over 9000 runs in Test cricket

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Mathew K
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Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

Amid all the comments that have been coming in from the English camp prior to the marquee England tour to India Test series, the legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has now mentioned that India possesses 'Viratball' to counter England's 'Bazball' strategy in their upcoming five-match Test series, scheduled to commence on January 25 at Hyderabad. India is scheduled to face England in the inaugural match of the series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. 

This marks the first Test encounter between the two teams since their 2-2 draw in the five-match Test series during the 2021/22 season. The legendary India batter, Kohli has been included in the 16-member squad for the initial two matches of the five-Test series against England. He is only 152 runs away from joining the exclusive club of Indian batters with over 9000 runs in Test cricket, a group that currently includes Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid.

In a conversation with Star Sports prior to the first Test, Gavaskar mentioned that India possesses the 'Viratball' strategy to counter England's Baseball approach. Kohli has accumulated 1991 runs in 28 Test matches against England, maintaining an average of 42.36.

“Yeah, conversion means having more hundreds than fifties. With Kohli, he has as a similar amount of hundreds and fifties, that means he has a good conversion rate. The way he's been batting, his movement looks good. With the form that he's in, we have Viratball to counter Bazball,” said Gavaskar.

It will be interesting to see how Bazball works on Indian pitches: Gavaskar

Gavaskar expressed curiosity about how England's aggressive approach will fare against India's spinners. As of now, India holds the second position in the Test rankings, while England is placed third. Kohli ranked fifth, aims to match the record of Gavaskar and Tendulkar for the most Test centuries against England, as the two legends scored seven hundreds each in their illustrious careers.

“England have adopted a new approach in Test cricket in the last 1-2 years. It's an aggressive approach where batters look to attack. They just want to play attacking cricket no matter the situation. It'll be interesting to see if this approach works against the spinners of India,” Gavaskar added.

Virat Kohli Sunil Gavaskar