Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan believes India adopted England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ style during the recent Kanpur Test against Bangladesh. The match which initially seemed to be heading towards a dull draw saw India take a bold approach on the fourth day, securing a comfortable seven-wicket victory and completing a 2-0 series sweep.
India batted 52 overs during a rain-interrupted session, scoring a brisk 285/9 declared in just 34.4 overs. Vaughan likened this aggressive performance to England’s dynamic style, which has been synonymous with ‘Bazball’—a term used to describe England’s fearless Test cricket since Ben Stokes became captain and Brendon McCullum took over as coach.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vaughan shared his views which sparked a debate. He wrote, “I see India are playing Bazball .. 👀👀”
https://x.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1840694298188141019
Many fans reminded him that players like Virender Sehwag and Rishabh Pant had been playing similarly aggressive cricket long before ‘Bazball’ became a trend.
On the Club Prairie Fire podcast, Vaughan discussed India’s approach alongside former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist. Vaughan praised India’s performance, humorously suggesting England could “charge” India for copying their tactics. Gilchrist jokingly responded by pointing out that India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir had already branded their aggressive style as ‘Gamball’.
Here is the video:
https://x.com/clubprairiefire/status/1841395129510211763
Click to watch this vide directly on X
The light-hearted banter between Vaughan and Gilchrist underscored how similar the aggressive strategies of both the teams are. Vaughan’s tweet about India playing ‘Bazball’ went viral with 1.2 million views and over 2,000 responses, many of which were humorous. Despite the criticism, Vaughan seemed to enjoy the exchange, while Gilchrist advised fans to avoid offensive comments.
India’s aggressive display in the Kanpur Test has added fuel to the growing conversation about which the team truly owns this high-octane approach to Test cricket.
