“Prankball, Not Bazball”: R Ashwin Trolls England After Day 1 At Lord’s

R Ashwin Trolls England After Day 1 At Lord’s: Anyone who watched the third Test between India and England at Lord’s would agree it was a hard-fought contest, with both teams making a strong impact. India had a solid day with the ball, managing to dismiss four of England’s top five batters, including key players like Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook, all of whom had scored centuries in earlier matches.

Joe Root’s Gritty Knock Anchors England’s Innings

England finished Day 1 of the third Test at Lord’s with 251 runs on the board, thanks in large part to Joe Root, who was just one run short of his eighth Test century at the iconic venue. Interestingly, Root went against head coach Brendon McCullum’s aggressive Bazball style and instead played a more traditional, cautious innings to handle the challenging pitch.

It’s important to note that the surface at Lord’s was quite different from the ones used in the first two Tests, which had more of a subcontinental feel and heavily favoured batting. This time, conditions were tougher, and England had to adjust their approach.

Since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum teamed up, England have rarely moved away from their ultra-aggressive mindset, often described as “slam bang, thank you ma’am” cricket. But at Lord’s, when many expected a similar high-risk strategy, they changed gears and scored just over 250 runs at a run rate of around 3 per over.

Credit must go to the Indian bowlers for keeping the scoring in check and building pressure throughout the day.

Joe Root showed great patience, facing nearly 180 balls by stumps on Day 1. While he fell one run short of a century that day, he eventually reached the milestone on Day 2 before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him.

R Ashwin Calls for Aggression: ‘Roll Them Out Early’

Former India star R Ashwin pointed out how England moved away from their usual Bazball tactics and adopted a more cautious and classic approach to suit the conditions.

“It was a great day for England. Everyone believed England was going to continue with Bazball, but they betrayed everyone by playing Prankball instead. They usually score at a net run rate of 4, 4.5 an over, but today was different. England were going at three runs an over.”

“I had previously discussed that Joe Root scoring runs is very important for the team. Commeth the man, Commeth the hour. His innings was a lesson in how Test cricket needs to be played. Root is back,” said R Ashwin on his YouTube channel.

Former cricketer R Ashwin highlighted that the pitch at Lord’s isn’t as flat as the ones used in the first two Tests. Because of that, he believes India should look to bowl England out early on Day 2 and try to keep their total under 350.

R Ashwin also mentioned that the surface is likely to become more unpredictable as the match goes on and more cricket is played on it.

“If you look at this pitch, it possesses some sub-continent tendencies. The ball usually softens up after 60 overs, but if you look at Ravindra Jadeja, one back of a length delivery hit Joe Root’s bat very low. Now, this on Day 1 at Lord’s is quite a contrast to the conditions that you expect in England,” claimed R Ashwin.

“There is contrasting bounce and variable pace on this pitch. If I were India, I would be telling the bowler to roll them out in the first session tomorrow. Can they keep England below 350? Because the longer England plays, this surface is going to play tricks,” added the veteran spinner from his YouTube channel.

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