England national cricket team would be utterly disappointed with their performance with the bat as they hardly put up a fight. Michael Vaughan, the renowned commentator was fumed up by the performance of the star batter Jonny Bairstow who couldn’t capitalize on the starts. Michael Vaughan made it clear that England’s batters couldn’t play calmly with a few overs of defense.
The Men in Blue on the other side would be over the moon as not many thought that India would bounce back so strongly after losing the 1st Test match. The duo of Rohit Sharma & Rahul Dravid managed to fox the Britishers by applying attacking tactics which was missing by England in crunch situations of the Test match.
I would call Jonny Bairstow’s batting Clickbait one- Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan wrote in his column for Telegraph that England’s batting lacked mental strength. Michael Vaughan pointed out that England’s defense become a dirty word in the setup. Michael Vaughan was furious on Ollie Pope as well who couldn’t perform according to his credentials after the opening Test match.
“England’s batting was a real worry on this tour. I watched Jonny Bairstow in Dharamsala, on his 100th Test, and I thought his two innings almost epitomize what this team is becoming. I would call it Clickbait Batting. They are playing shots to get clicks, likes and follows,” said Michael Vaughan.
“I’ve been there on social media! In a batting context you play a few great-looking shots and everyone swoons on social media and then you get out. I watch them bat and worry that defense has become a dirty word in the setup because it’s negative. Is it a cover because they don’t trust their defense? Ollie Pope starts like a cat on a hot tin roof, and many of them lack the ability to calm the situation with a few overs of defense,” he added.
Forgettable Test tour for England’s middle order
England’s ultra-attacking approach ‘Bazball’ not only backfired but at the same time, the likes of Joe Root & Jonny Bairstow looked in two minds whether to attack or defend which didn’t do any good to the team. Joe Root was seen playing reverse sweep shot against pacers which wasn’t that effective nor successful against a quality Indian pace attack.
India on the other side made a huge statement that they can excel even in the absence of Mohammed Shami (*was ruled out of the Test series due to ankle injury). The billion people would be delighted as the youngsters step up as we should not forget that how Dhruv Jurel played a match winning knock in the 4th Test match which eventually sealed the Test series for India.