Former England captain Michael Vaughan has advised Joe Root to return to his natural style of play and avoid being swayed by the ‘Bazball’ approach during the Test series in India.
The hosts levelled the five-match series 1-1 thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s remarkable nine-wicket haul and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s exceptional century in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
England have been steadfast in their commitment to maintaining their high-tempo batting approach, which has largely proven successful under the guidance of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
In an attempt to adapt to the spin-friendly conditions in India, the English team has resorted to an unprecedented number of reverse sweeps.
Root, however, has struggled to find form, posting scores of 29, 2, 5, and 16 in the first two Tests. His unorthodox dismissal in the second innings in Vizag left many English cricket legends, including Mike Athertonfrustrated.
Ahead of the second Test, Root was even seen batting left-handed in the nets. Vaughan believes that Root, one of England’s batting legends, should eschew Bazball tactics and adopt a more conservative approach to his game.
“They are in fifth gear from ball one,” Vaughan wrote in the UK Telegraph.
“I don’t mind some of them playing like that because they are better for it. But Joe Root should forget it. He has 10,000 Test runs playing like Joe Root. He doesn’t need to be a Bazballer.