Wisden editor Lawrence Booth takes note of India’s ultra aggressive methods in Kanpur which could be a game-changer for Test cricket; strategy that mid-day calls Bossball, continues to be talk of the cricketing globe
Yashasvi Jaiswal during his quickfire 51-ball 72 against Bangladesh in Kanpur on Monday. Pic/AFP
India's aggressive play which turned a dead Test match against Bangladesh at Kanpur into a win that gained fame in the same time it took to achieve it, has become a talking point across the cricketing globe. And that includes England, where on Wednesday Lawrence Booth, the editor of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack stated that September 30 (the fourth day of the Kanpur Test) “could be the day cricket changed for ever.”
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In his column The Top Spin, Booth wrote: “All it took was 34.4 overs on the fourth afternoon of the second Test at Kanpur, in which time India scored 285 for nine against Bangladesh, unleashing the full shock and awe of their batting arsenal. At 8.22 runs an over, it was Test cricket’s quickest innings (minimum: 50 balls), and comes as England fly to Pakistan — the scene, two years ago, of their own epoch-defining 506 for four on the first day of the series at Rawalpindi. The runs that day came at a rate of 6.75, which England upped to 7.36 in their second innings as the Bazball revolution achieved its first overseas scalp. Afterwards, we could hardly move at the back of the media centre for all the England batsmen signing their name on the honours board.”
Daily Mail cricket corespondent and the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack Editor Lawrence Booth Pic/Getty Images
While the English media continue to bring up Bazball whenever their country’s aggressive play pays off or flops, Booth informed his readers that Indian cricket fans are calling the approach of Rohit Sharma & Co’s approach Gamball after new head coach Gautam Gambhir, who took over from Rahul Dravid after the Bangalore great ended his coaching term with a successful T20 World Cup campaign. Incidentally, mid-day has coined the term Bossball, aimed to do justice to India’s hopefully-trendsetting approach.
Also Read: England's ‘Bazball’ meets identical twin in India’s ‘Gamball’
Booth wrote: “It was thrilling stuff. Yashasvi Jaiswal hit three successive fours in the first over, while Rohit whacked his first two balls for six. India’s 50 came up from three overs, breaking England’s record. Even the out-of-form Virat Kohli enjoyed the freedom, hitting 47 in 35 balls. India’s 100 came up in 10.1 overs, their 150 in 18.2, their 200 in 24.2 — all Test records. Bangladesh’s opening bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Khaled Ahmed went for 109 in 10 overs. ‘Carnage’ barely does it justice, and the only surprise was that Rishabh Pant, the explosive wicketkeeper who until Jaiswal came along had looked like India’s lone Bazballer, had to settle for nine off 11 deliveries. So why were Monday’s events more significant than anything England have done over the past two years? Because, well, India. England invented 20-over cricket in 2003, but it wasn’t until India won the first World T20 in South Africa four years later that they awoke to the format’s potential. The IPL followed in 2008, and the rest was history.”
Bazball became part of a controversy in the last India v England series when visiting batsman Ben Duckett suggested that Mumbai’s dynamic India opening batsman Jaiswal had learnt to score swiftly after watching England. Duckett, a left-hander like Jaiswal was expectedly trolled by Indian cricket enthusiasts.
Booth saw the possibility of Test cricket being changed forever. “Imagine if their [India’s] army of attacking batsmen conclude that the only way to get into the Test team is to show off their six-hitting prowess. Imagine if India, under Gambhir, decide never to go back to the conservatism of his predecessor, Rahul Dravid. Because if all that happens, if Kanpur becomes the moment India woke up, even Bazball may begin to look off the pace.” ther.” Whether that happens is to be seen, but Kanpur 2024 will surely figure prominently in the thick yellow book cricket lovers call Wisden, next April.
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