Bazball at a crossroads as England sink to 90-year low in thumping loss to India
Respected columnist and three-time England Test player Johnathan Agnew has declared the 'Bazball' playing style is "at a crossroads".
India served the tourists a 434-run drubbing by in the third Test in Rajkot, their heaviest loss by runs since 1934, and India's biggest ever win.
In a column for the BBC, Agnew wrote the "chastening" result traced back to England's batting on the third morning, when they resumed 2-207, and Joe Root's ugly dismissal in particular.
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India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and captain Rohit Sharma celebrate with Kuldeep Yadav after Ollie Pope's wicket. Getty
"Had they batted sensibly, they could have ended the day 50 or 60 runs in front - possibly even more," he wrote.
"Instead, they were aggressive and lost their last eight wickets for 95 runs, which handed India the advantage.
"The epitome of it all was Joe Root, who decided 20 minutes into the day to play his reverse scoop off Jasprit Bumrah and was caught for 18.
"In any match the impact on both teams of the best player getting out is immense. For England it was a real hammer blow while India gained an easy win."
Agnew said while the aggressive style had certainly won England plenty of matches in the past year, it cannot be used against everyone always, and it was "screamingly obvious" there needed to be an element of flexibility in their playing style.
"They will not face criticism for playing in a tighter, more circumspect fashion at times. They would actually gain respect for it."
England was skittled for just 122 in just over a session, as Ravindra Jadeja took 5-41 as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the series.
India's previous biggest win was a 372-run victory over New Zealand at Mumbai in 2021.
Yashasvi Jaiswal became only the third Indian to score back-to-back Test double centuries. Getty
Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal became only the third Indian batsman to score consecutive Test double hundreds.
Jaiswal was 214 not out – following on from his 209 in Visakhapatnam – as the hosts declared at 4-430 (98 overs) in its second innings, thus setting an improbable 557 runs for victory.
In their chase, England were 2-18 at tea – first innings' centurion Ben Duckett was run out following a mix up, while his partner Zack Crawley was out lbw to Jasprit Bumrah. They were further reduced to 4-28 in the 12th over, and then to 7-50 in the 25th.
England lost wickets at regular intervals from there. Jadeja sealed the win when Mark Wood was caught at long off. It gave the spinner another five-wicket haul to go with his first-innings century.
The all-rounder was named player of the match at his home ground.
England's biggest defeat by runs remains a 562-run drubbing against Australia in 1934.
"Sometimes gameplans don't work and that was the case here," England captain Ben Stokes said.
"We are 1-2 down in the series and it is a great opportunity for us to come back and win the series. We will leave this game behind, knowing we have to win two games to win it."
The fourth test begins in Ranchi on Friday evening.
- With AP
