Bazball was a hot topic of discussion before the start of the five-Test series between India and England but the tactic quickly fizzled out a turning track at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday as the visiting batters struggled to deal with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Azar Patel on Day 1 of the 1st match.
Openers Ben Duckett (35) and Zak Crawley (29) did get off to a brisk start before Ben Stokes displayed some aggression towards the end of the England innings which eventually folded for 246 in 64.3 overs.
Ben Stokes wages lone battle using Bazball approach
Captain Stokes was the only batter who managed to attack the Indian spin trio, scoring a brisk 70 off 88 balls with six fours and three maximums. Duckett's strike rate of 89.74 was also quite impressive but none could make a lasting impact barring Stokes.
Indian fans started trolling England over their Bazball approach which the players could hardly manage against top-quality spinners that the home side boasts of.
Bharat Army's song trolling Bazball
The Bharat Army even made a song for England's Bazball tactic, "White ball. Red ball. Where is your Bazball?".
The fans were heard singing this song in a video they posted on social media during the first session of play in Hyderabad.
'Jaisball' trumps Bazball on Day 1
England managed a run rate of just 3.20 in their first innings, which is the slowest since they started adopting to the Bazball tactic which allows the batters to play aggressively from ball one.
India in fact, maintained a much better run rate of 5.17 and reached 119 for 1 by stumps. This was mainly due to the 'Jaisball' approach of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who remained unbeaten on 76 off 70 balls with three sixes and 9 fours. He has Shubman Gill (14*) for company at the other end, and the hosts need just 127 runs more to overhaul England's first innings score.
