With England cricket team taking their Bazball approach to the ongoing Test series in India, the method received a handful of jibes during day 1 of the 1st Test in Hyderabad. Although England made a breezy start to their innings, they lost wickets in clump, forcing them to play conservatively. Hence, a picture went viral of an England fan dozing off.
After England captain Ben Stokes elected to bat first, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett took the attack to the opposition and stitched a 55-run opening stand. However, the visitors slid to 60-3 in no time. Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow still took those calculated risks until Axar Patel castled the latter with a peach to break the 61-run partnership.
Root also departed soon after, falling to a sweep shot off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling and England's progress came to a grinding halt. At 133-5 in 40 overs, the Englishmen were playing defensively, unlike anything they had played since Stokes became captain.
Here are some of the fan reactions England's Bazball approach:
Ben Stokes' onslaught lifts England to a competitive 246:
Meanwhile, the visiting captain stood tall with the bat even as he kept losing partners at the other end. The left-hander reached his half-century off 69 deliveries with a massive six off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling in the 61st over. The seam-bowling all-rounder got going in the 3rd session of the play when the tourists were 215-18.
Stokes mustered 28 runs in the last 15 balls before Jasprit Bumrah cleaned him up.
