England’s much talked about aggressive brand of cricket in Tests will face its toughest challenge yet when they tour India next year in January. Under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and guidance of coach Brendon McCullum, England’s fortunes in the longest format seem to have taken a turn for good after a series of poor results.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan though has cautioned the team ahead of their India tour next year, a place he considers ‘the hardest’ to play considering the wealth of spin bowling talent they have at their disposal.
“Ultimately the hardest place to play in the world is India and if you actually go back to the Ashes when Nathan Lyon was fit and bowling nicely, Australia were 2-0 up in the series,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au.
“That was just one innings and a few overs in the first innings at Lords… Nathan came out with a lovely line the other week where he said he’s 2-nil up against Bazball,” he added.
Vaughan then pointed out that on spin-friendly conditions in India and facing world-class duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with Axar Patel another quality option, there’s a potential that England might get
“Now that’s just one spinner, if you look at that five-for he got at Edgbaston and the field was spread and England got out to him by playing ridiculous shots at times. If you add in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel on spinning wickets in India, they may get blown away, they may get ‘absolutely destroyed’,” he said.
However, Vaughan doesn’t think England will change their approach with the bat and it will be a great sight to watch their batters take on three quality spinners.
“They will go out and play exactly the same way, we’ve already spoken about the impact they are going to try and achieve in India with the way they play. It will be great watching, but you will have to fancy three quality spinners might do a job on England when one quality spinner in Nathan Lyon did the job in English conditions,” Vaughan said.
“It’s going to be very tough for them to win in India,” he added.
Vaughan is an admirer of ‘Bazball’ but did admit that at times it’s bonkers.
“I’m a huge admirer of Bazball, I think it’s been a revelation in the last 18 months and there’s not one Australian that can look me in the eye and say they didn’t admire the way England played in the Ashes,” Vaughan said.
“All right they didn’t win the Ashes but the way England went about their cricket was fantastic, everyone loved watching them play, it’s risky, at times it is bonkers.
“It goes completely against the grain of what you require in that position and situation, you go back to Lords and Nathan Lyon limping off and England losing six or seven wickets in 40 minutes with the bouncer tactic, playing all the shots in the world. There are times where it is absolutely crackers but it’s great to watch and I’ve not met one Australian, they have enjoyed watching them play.”
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