England’s 10 downing streak: Bazballers didn’t face enough balls to score | Cricket News

On the eve of the final Test of the long five-match series that they had already lost, England captain Ben Stokes had tried his best, not to sound like someone who wanted the ordeal to end and head home. “It’s been a long tour. It’s a great ground to have one last big push. We have a lot of fans coming here,” he had said.About 24 hours later that “one last big push” was conspicuous its absence. Lacking in intensity and drive to stay at the crease or pursue the team’s bold Bazballing goals, England batsmen seemed to be in a hurry to be on the flight back home, already thinking of last-minute gifts to pick for the family.
In a little over two sessions, England were all out for 218, with 8 of their batsmen facing less than 50 balls. At stumps, India, at 135/1, seemed all set to take a big lead and further decorate their series triumph. With England’s spiritless batting following their lless bowling, going purely the action on field on Day 1, this doesn’t seem to be a Test that will go the dance. India seem to have taken the first step to change 3-1 to 4-1. The tour that had started with the promise of England giving the world a new code to buck the trend of India’s home domination might have a tame end.

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Kuldeep the game around, all himself 🤩#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/tOnj8RgLJq
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 7, 2024
But for opener Zak Crawley’s inning of 79, there was a sameness to the fall of England wickets. In a long five-match series, the visiting team’s batting approach and their dismissals have become predictable. Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow and Stokes – the biggest brand Bazball ambassador – got out doing what they have done so regularly since the first Test at Hyderabad in the last week of January.
Early in the morning, though, it seemed like England were pressing for their “big push.” The Duckett-Crawley opening partnership seemed to be shaping well. They were justifying their captain’s decision to bat first. But for the occasional cloudy phases, the sun was out. In the pavilion the Barmy Army was singing Crawley songs. Even a DJ at the stadium would do the English a favour and play UB 40. Crawley wasn’t taking chances, he would mostly play with the straight bat, Duckett was the more adventurous playing square.
Dharamshala: Indian players celebrate the wicket of England’s batter Ben Stokes during the first day of the fifth Test cricket match between India and England, in Dharamshala, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shahbaz Khan)
The introduction of Ashwin didn’t change the tempo of the game. The introduction of wr-spinner Kuldeep Yadav though, would give India the breakthrough. Duckett didn’t wait to check the effectiveness of Kuldeep on the track. He did what he always does. The England opener threw his hands at a ball that was pitched far from him. He mis-timed the drive but Shubman Gill, running back from cover, didn’t misjudge a very difficult catch. Seen that before.
At the end of the game, Kuldeep hinted how the Indian team has been second guessing the tactics of the English batsmen and succeeding. He was talking about the wicket of Ollie Pope. “After he has played a few dot balls, he is sure to rush out,” he said. Pope did exactly that and Kuldeep would drop the ball short to fox him.
As soon as Bairstow was at the crease, there was a buzz among Indian fielders. They knew his game plan all too well. There was no surprise, in 29 balls he faced, he scored 2 fours and 2 sixes. He wasn’t bothered about the extra turn Kuldeep was getting, he wasn’t changing his plans. Well aware that Bairstow would aim for the leg-side slog, Kuldeep would bowl a faster googly that would take the edge of the bat and settle into the hands of the wicket-keeper. Seen that before.

Stokes didn’t last long. His struggles against the spinner continued. Like so many times before, he once again failed to judge the length of the ball. To go forward or fall back? He couldn’t decide that in time. Stokes had tried to play him on the back foot and work the ball to the leg. But as Kuldeep mixed his length, Stokes couldn’t overcome his dilemma. He did take the review but it was futile. Seen that before.
This was the third wrong DRS call that England had taken in successive overs. Before Stokes, Joe Root and Bairstow too had asked for a review even when there was hardly anyone on the field who would have thought that the ball was missing the stumps.
In the 30 overs that India got to bat, there was just one blip. Going the theme of the day, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, the highest scorer of this series, too would get out in an all-too familiar fashion.

His opening partner and captain Rohit Sharma would continue to talk to him. For every loose shot he played, Rohit would ask him to be more circumspect. He made a 58-ball 57 that had 3 sixes and 5 fours and then threw it away. Like Pope, he too had a rush of blood. He danced down the track to Shoaib Bashir and was out stumped. It wasn’t the first time, Jaiswal had missed his charge to a bowler.
Final visual of the day as the light faded, was coach Rahul Dravid on the pitch checking for patches. Seen it before.