The upcoming five-Test series against India at home is a big test for England’s ‘Bazball’ cricket, led by Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. When India played England at Edgbaston in 2022, they got a taste of England’s bold and free approach.
Now can England keep that up against a strong Indian team, especially with Jasprit Bumrah in form? They won at Edgbaston and drew with Australia in the 2023 Ashes so Stokes and McCullum’s focus on aggressive cricket is here to stay.
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England have had great wins and tough losses at home and away. They’ve been really good at home, winning 15 out of 20 Tests with 4 losses and 1 draw. Under Stokes and McCullum they have a 75% win rate, second best in the world behind South Africa who have an 87.5% win rate. Since June 2022 when England started this new era against New Zealand they’ve been on a roll.
Looking at the batting stats, England’s top 7 at home average 43.86, second only to Sri Lanka’s 44.39. Their strike rate of 73.90 is miles ahead of everyone else, India are 60.88.
In this Bazball era all the batsmen from openers to lower order are hitting sixes with ease. Key players like Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Stokes himself have been consistent, hitting like they do in ODIs but in Tests.
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These numbers show England are really embracing the Bazball mentality at home. Will India be the team to finally break England’s home hoodoo?
