NEW DELHI: Succumbing to their second worst-ever Test defeat against India in Rajkot on Sunday, England players drew flak from former captains with the '
Bazball
' approach being labelled as the cause of their humiliation.
Since The Oval defeat against Australia by 562 runs in 1934, England, for the first time, faced such an embarrassing defeat and the former greats of the game were quick to tear into the side's approach in the chase of 577.
Nosediving in the improbable chase, England were bundled out for a lowly 122 as India took a 2-1 lead in the series.
"This England team are hell bent on doing things their way, and 'saving Test cricket'. They are giving Test cricket a shot in the arm because they are so exciting," Michael Vaughan wrote in Britain's Daily Telegraph.
"But ultimately they have to be better than that now. They didn't win in New Zealand, they didn't win the Ashes, and if they carry on like this, they are going to lose in India. As a team, you are judged on series victories."
Michael Atherton said opener Ben Duckett's "the more the better" comments after the third day regarding a realistic target England could chase down were fanciful.
"One can admire the positivity and playfulness of Ben Duckett and this England team — such were his comments on the third evening — while also questioning their occasional self-delusion," Atherton wrote in the Times.
"Careful husbandry of resources is not the Bazball way. They have been profligate in the extreme in this match, wasting a golden opportunity to build on Duckett's brilliant second-day hundred and to achieve parity or more on first innings.
"They were forced to take some bitter medicine as a consequence on a stifling and totally demoralising fourth day in Rajkot."
Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain said England must learn from their mistakes.
"If England don't consider tweaks, Bazball just becomes a cult that can't be questioned," he added. "I am not asking them to alter their mantra, just to review the last couple of matches and ask themselves: 'how can we improve?'"
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, English umpire Richard Kettleborough said: "R.I.P Bazball. England has been humiliated."
(With inputs from Reuters)
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