New Delhi: England’s ultra-aggressive Bazball style of batting needs to find a way to deal with spin bowling in the Indian subcontinent, feels Kevin Pietersen after they slumped to two successive losses in the ongoing T20I series.
England lost in Kolkata and Chennai with the third match slated to be played in Rajkot on Tuesday. In both the matches, England struggle to score at a rapid pace against Indian spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel.
Last year, they had faced a similar predicament too when they toured for a Test series, losing it 1-4, losing the last four matches on the trot. Bredon McCullum was the coach of their Test team then and has since taken over charge of the white-ball teams too.
“Bazball doesn’t work against high-quality spin consistently! There is an art to playing spin in the subcontinent,” Pietersen told on social media platform X while speaking during a Q&A session.
Eye on Champions Trophy
The two teams have already reached Rajkot for the third game. Through the T20I series, both teams are hoping to fine tune their preparations for the ODI Champions Trophy that begins on February 19 in Pakistan.
After the end of the T20I series, the two teams will engage in the three-match ODI series before flying out for the ICC mega event. Though Pakistan are the designated hosts, India have refused to travel to their neighbouring country citing security concerns and will be playing all their matches in Dubai.
England are clubbed with with Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan while India are drawn together with Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh in the group stage.
The tournament begins on February 19 while the final is set for March 8 with the high-octane India vs Pakistan clash to be played on February 23.
England have lost in Kolkata and Chennai with the third T20I match of the five-game series slated to be played in Rajkot on Tuesday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
