What is ‘Bazball’? All you need to know about this modern brand of cricket

Following India’s wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s whirlwind 111-ball 146 in a match against England on June 2, 2022, the Three Lion’s assistant coach and former player Paul Collingwood named the innings as ‘Bazball’.

‘Bazball’ is a term associated with former New Zealand skipper and current England Test coach Brendon McCullum. The former Kiwi who is nicknamed ‘Baz’ was known for his aggressive stroke play during his playing days by taking the attack to the opposition.

Now the England Test team seems to be playing with the same intention where they are looking to attack the opposition out of the match irrespective of their position in the game. And as of now, it seems to be working perfectly fine for them. But it remains to be seen how long the team can keep ‘Bazball’ alive.

England fans and media houses are calling it ‘Bazball’ and they have a strong belief that the modern and fancy way of playing cricket is the main reason behind England’s turn around in Test cricket.

Team India seems to have been fascinated by ‘Bazball’ strategy as well. However, they have so far applied it in T20Is only. After some defeats in T20Is due to sluggish start, the Men in Blue have resorted to attacking style of game (Bazball) from the word go. The change in strategy seems to have been working for India and most likely they will continue it till T20 World Cup. Players like Pant and Hardik Pandya are tailor-made for ‘Bazball’ kind of game.