British media came down heavily on Ben Stokes-led England following their an innings and 64-run defeat against India in the fifth and final Test of the series at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Saturday, March 9.
England suffered a batting collapse on Day 3 as they were bundled out for 195 while they were trailing by 259 in the second innings. Ravichandran Ashwin rattled England's top-order and picked five-wicket haul to complete the figures of 5/77 in 14 overs. Joe Root waged a lone battle for visitors as he scored 84 off 128 balls.
England already the lost series after losing the fourth Test in Ranchi. Ben Stokes and co won the Test series opener in Hyderabad before suffering successive defeats in Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala. Before the beginning of the Test series, Bazball was a talking point and questioned whether England could adapt an aggressive style of batting in Indian conditions.
However, in the Test series, Rohit Sharma-led Team India successfully triumphed over England's Bazball approach, which has been a buzz word after a captain-coach duo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over the reins of England Test team in 2022.
The much-hyped Bazball emerged successful in 14 Tests that England won, including the first match of the series in Hyderabad. However, the hype began to fade away after three consecutive defeats in the recently concluded Test series.
British media slams England for series defeat
British media didn't have any mercy towards England as they lambasted Ben Stokes and co for their 'pathetic' series defeat against India. Nick Hoult of the Telegraph wrote that England lost the final Test of the series in a 'pathetic fashion'. He stated that the Three Lions pathetic end to a series will leave Bazball in dock.
The BBC Sport slammed 'spineless' England's top-order for the defeat in the fifth and final Test of the series. They believe that Ben Stokes-led side squandered the opportunity in the next three Tests after winning the Test series opener in Hyderabad.
Simon Wilde of the Times UK wrote that England lacked innvotive strategies rather than Bazball to succeed on 'blameless pitch' in the Dharamsala Test. He also observed that England players lacked self-belief after visitors lost all 10 wickets on the opening day of the Dharamsala Test.
Nasser Hussain lambasts England's Bazball approach
Former England captain Nasser Hussain is clearly unhappy with hype around the team's Bazball approach. He has been critical on England's batting approach ever since the visitors started losing Tests after winning the Test series.
"There is too much said and written about Bazball. I have said the other day it is about the individuals. It is about the individual performances in those situations." Hussain said on Sky Sports.
Bazball was dominating the headlines before the Test series and many praised England's aggressive batting approach to keep the longest format of the game interesting. Now, the point of view completely changes after England's dismal performances in the recently Test series against India.
