Anil Kumble After Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum Pair Suffer 1st Series Loss: 'Bazball, Whatever Ball You Call It…'

Anil Kumble did not hold back after India’s home supremacy weathered the ‘Bazball’ storm as Rohit Sharma’s men secured a hard-fought five-wicket win over England in the fourth and penultimate Test for a 17th consecutive series triumph in their own backyard on Monday, handing a harsh reality check to the visitors’ unidimensional approach.

Kumble, a former India captain as well as head coach, urged Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum to take a hard look at themselves after conceeding the series despite winning the first Test in Hyderabad.

“See the challenge when England came here was obvious. India is not going to easy. Bazball, whatever ball you call it… but it’s not going to be easy beating India at home. That is the reason why India has been so dominant over the years. Last decade, India have never lost a series at home. They knew they had to be different but their bowling attack wasn’t certainly something that they believed would be able to penetrate the Indian batting,” Kumble was quted as saying on JioCinema.

“Once they got to know that some of the senior players won’t be available, with an inexperienced line-up, they had a chance, but senior batters didn’t contribute consistently in that middle order, including Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and even Joe Root – other than this Test match, so that’s where I thought they missed a trick there,” he added.

India lead 3-1 in the series with the last game scheduled in Dharamsala from March 7. The team’s last home series loss was a 1-2 defeat to an Alastair Cook-led England in 2012-13. Since then, India have won 39 out of 50 Tests at home.

India’s victory marked a stunning downfall for ‘Bazball’, which has been a much-hyped winning mantra for England since 2022 and is now facing all-round criticism for being too rigid and lacking in depth.

Conceptualised after the appointment of Brendon McCullum as coach and Ben Stokes as captain, England’s plan to attack irrespective of circumstances found its match in the unflappable approach of the Indians.

While the visitors remained stubborn barring the conservative hundred by veteran Joe Root, the Indians adapted and refused to be bogged down by setbacks.

The result, England would be going back with their first series defeat under Stokes and McCullum. It is also the first time they have lost three back-to-back Tests.

(With inputs from Agencies)