Parthiv Patel believes India could not conquered England’s ‘Bazball’ style simply because they won the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
India felt the sting of a 28-run defeat, despite a 190-run bonus in the initial Test versus England. However, they recouped with a victorious 106-run boost in Monday’s (February 5) second match. This evens things up in the ongoing five-match series.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Parthiv Patel was questioned if India’s victory in the second Test meant they had abandoned Bazball. He responded in the negative, reasoning:
“We definitely cannot say that we have gotten rid of Bazball because when India had set a nearly 400-run target in the fourth innings, we were still thinking that they might be able to chase it.”
Parthiv Patel
The one-time wicketkeeper-batter from India mentioned: a harder win might have happened for the hosts in the second Test. Why? Because Joe Root and Ben Stokes almost handed their wickets away.
“332 runs were required on the fourth morning and yet it seemed like that. 106 runs were left when they got all out. If Joe Root hadn’t played that shot and Ben Stokes hadn’t gone for a walk in the park, if that run-out dismissal hadn’t happened, it might have been difficult.”
Parthiv Patel
Root scored 16 off 10 balls before being caught by Axar Patel off Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling while trying a reckless hoick. Stokes was a little lazy when taking a single and was caught short of the crease by Shreyas Iyer’s straight hit.
India could have sealed both Tests with better batting, says Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel pointed out that India let opportunities slip to essentially knock England out of the game in both Tests. He remarked:
“It’s also true that India were in a position where they could have batted England out of the game in both Test matches and India couldn’t do that in both places. In the first Test, Axar (Patel) and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) could add only 15 runs when they came to bat on the third morning.”
Parthiv Patel
The former player, turned commentator, suggested that Rohit Sharma and team focus on their batting, rather than Bazball.
“Here also if the Indian team are getting all out for 255 on this pitch, they will think for sure that they have given slightly below-par performances with the bat. So more than Bazball, I feel how much they focus on their own batting will matter more.”
Parthiv Patel
Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 in the first innings) and Shubman Gill (104 in the second innings) were the only Indian batsmen to reach the half-century mark on the flat Visakhapatnam surface. All of the other batters had starts in both innings but were unable to translate them into significant contributions.