‘Bazball’ comes to subcontinent: Pakan change their game

Before the Pakan cricket team left for the Test series in Sri Lanka, the team management made a concerted effort to alter their batting approach. Having won only one Test in their last 14, and after being blown away 3-0 at home the ultra-attacking ‘Bazball’ approach of the Ben Stokes-led England side, the coaches emphasised attacking intent during their one-week camp at the National High-Performance Camp in Lahore.“The emphasis (of the camp) was on scoring runs. How to use the feet, play sweep, reverse sweep, change the conventional style of playing against the spinners,” Muhammad Masroor, Pakan A coach who oversaw the camp alongside senior team coach Grant Bradburn, told the Indian Express.“We tried to change the mindset of the batsmen. Most of them were coming out of the crease, they were playing unconventional shots. They were given the confidence from the coach that, it doesn’t matter even if you are getting out. The fear was that if they would play these shots and would get out, the selectors would throw them out of the team. Now they have that backing of the head coach,” he added.

The changes manifested themselves in Pakan’s four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first Test. In the first innings, their top order was not afraid to go for their shots – Shan Masood coming in at No 3 and hitting five boundaries and a six in a brisk 30-ball 39.
Even though early wickets fell, Pakan finding themselves at 101-5, Saud Shakeel and Agha Salman put on a 177-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the former going on to make his first double century, and the latter hitting nine fours and a six during his 113-ball 83.
In his press conference on Day 2, Masood would reveal how the team got a wake-up call when England came to Pakan. “The last Test cycle gave us a big reflection and management was very firm that one of the things that we were lacking was that we were not scoring at as high a rate as our opposition,” he said.
“We’re living in a day and age when there’s thrill-seeking batsmen going after bowlers, scoring runs and showing off their skills. Yes, we’d like to play a brand of cricket that’s attractive, but we’d like to play a brand of cricket that helps us win games.”
Hory of intent
The story of Pakan cricket has largely been about celebrating the winners – those mercurial masters of fate who can turn matches around on their own. They always have a team with a few leading lights and lots of hard-working grafters. For every Javed, there was an Imran; for every Misbah, there was an Afridi.
Masroor, who is the childhood coach of Pakan’s double centurion Saud Shakeel and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, feels Pakan’s playing style at Galle was a callback to the mercurial and dominant Pakan teams of old.
“To be honest, that is our natural way. We used to play natural cricket. Technique-wise Indian batters has always been better than us but we always play with the intent,” he said.
“Our batters were never fearful of any bowlers, they used to focus on punishing the bad balls. Now it is good that after a long time, that flamboyance was back. Pakan were five down and they kept on playing with a good tempo,” he said.
‘New flavour, utter rubbish’
For all of Masroor and Masood’s conviction in the altered batting approach, there are those who hold reservations. Former Pakan captain Rashid Latif is not too excited the triumph, believing Sri Lanka’s attack was not up to a high standard
He also took a dig at Masood for throwing away his wicket, claiming “It was not Bazball, it was bullsh*t.”
“Since Shan has made his comeback in the Pakan team, he has gotten out either being stumped or playing reverse sweep. You are making a comeback after a long time. Before this Test match, he had 155 runs in 14 innings with an average of 11. You can’t justify it. So someone like Shan must have a good look at his dismissal in both the innings,” Latif told The Indian Express from Karachi.
Latif, who has played 37 Tests and 166 ODIs for Pakan calls this new phenomenon of Bazball a “new flavour,” which will die down eventually. “I am too old school. I don’t like this style of cricket.”
“If someone is getting stumped without reading the line, you can’t justify it saying that it is Bazball. No this is utter rubbish. You have to give the player a dressing down. You need to play proper cricket,” he said.
Latif also has concerns about the defence for the youngsters following this philosophy. “Good defence is over now, courtesy of T20 cricket. Batsmen don’t have good defence anymore. In Pakan, we are not able to find a good opening batter.
“You see Ben Stokes, he doesn’t have a good defence. When he starts to defend the ball, he gets into a shell, he will keep on blocking. And if he gets on in the attacking mode, he keeps on playing his shots. Not everyone will be a Viv Richards or a Virender Sehwag or Inzmam-ul-Haq. Those guys had a natural talent. Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara could have played like this in Test cricket, they were attacking batters, but they (refrained),” he said.
Latif believes that in turning conditions in India early next year, England’s Bazball aproach is likely to crumble. “England destroyed Pakan because our bowling was weak. I would love see their approach in India against the world-class spinners. Inse Axar Patel nahi khela jayega, Ashwin aur Jadeja ki baat alag hai (Forget Ashwin and Jadeja, they won’t be able to play Axar),” he said.