England's 'bazball' approach will be tested to the hilt in the upcoming Test series against India. The visitors have time and again hinted that they will continue to bat aggressively even as the pitches are expected to turn from ball one during the series vs India. But will India also go the 'bazball' way to score runs quickly?
India head coach Rahul Dravid responded to this question in the press conference ahead of the first Test match in Hyderabad. He clearly downplayed the possibility of adapting England's way of playing cricket but also stated that his players will not go on the backfoot and instead, will play their natural game. Dravid also backed the Indian players to bat according to the situation.
"I don't think we are going out there to try to be ultra-attacking. I think we look to play what's in front of us, what the situation demands. But by nature, if you look at our top six-seven batsmen, there are a lot of guys who are naturally positive and look to take the game on. So, they're not going to be looking to change that in any particular way. There'll be some different situations in which we may need to look to push the game along or we might have to bat for long periods.
"But I can't see any of my batsmen taking a backward step or look to be defensive," Dravid said. He also noted England's impressive performance in Pakistan in 2022 where they defeated the home team 3-0 in the three-match series and also expected to come hard at India during the Test series. But he is confident that Rohit Sharma and his men will respond to the challenge in a positive way.
"It's been exciting to watch them play and you know they've had success playing like that. They've done well in Pakistan. They've won in New Zealand and they had a really exciting series against Australia in the Ashes as well. So, we have to respect that. But we know that it's going to be a challenge for them in these conditions because these are conditions we know very well. We've got a lot of experience in our attack. I'm looking forward to seeing how our boys respond, because I know that we will be put under pressure," the India head coach added.
