England captain Ben Stokes led his side to a thrilling 49-run win over Australia in the Ashes 2023 5th Test as they levelled up the series at 2-2. After going down 2-0 in the series, England showed immense character to draw the series, and they could have won the Ashes as well if not for rain’s intervention in the fourth Test.
Following England’s latest success at the Oval, Stokes was quizzed whether his side’s Bazball tactics would work against Team India. The 32-year-old gave a rather cheeky reply to the question on whether his side will stick to their philosophy.
India will host Stokes and Co. in February next year as part of their World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.
Ever since Brandon McCullum took as coach of the English side, and Stokes was appointed their caption the dynamic duo have completely changed their team’s fortunes. While many doubts remain on England’s Bazball approach, it has helped them win 14 of their 18 Test matches under Stokes and McCullum.
Stokes had infamously declared his side’s first inning when they were batting at 393/8, in the opening Test of Ashes 2023. As fate would have it, they would end up losing the match by 2 wickets and the all-rounder was heavily criticised.
Despite the backlash, Stokes has continued to back the Bazball approach to the hilt. Subsequently, England managed to level the series after a nail-biting encounter which the hosts won on Monday.
After the win, Stokes was quizzed about Bazball’s chances of success against Rohit Sharma’s side and the England captain came up with a cheeky remark.
“I remember when we beat New Zealand 3-0, (the chatter) was we couldn’t do it against South Africa, (we) couldn’t do it against Pakistan, (we) couldn’t do it against Australia. So who knows if we can do it against India, only time will tell,” he replied.
England whitewashed the Kiwis, and despite losing the first Test to South Africa they would go on to win the series 2-1, followed by another clean sweep against Pakistan. However, against India, the English side have not had success since 2012-23.
On their recent visits to the subcontinent, England suffered one-sided defeats losing 4-0 and 3-1 but they will be hoping for better results in March next year.
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