England slammed after ‘absurd’ development in First Test in India

There were scenes of high comedy as England made a laughable start to its attempt to conquer India with Bazball.

As he attempted to gather a throw from the boundary, English wicketkeeper Ben Foakes lost his way, tripped over all three stumps and fell flat on his face.

And England’s highly-anticipated tour of India – what the Poms believe is Bazball’s final frontier – was in full swing.

The eyes of the cricket world are on Hyderabad as Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ new approach to the five-day match gets its most serious examination.

The early signs aren’t great.

Three years after former opener Dom Sibley soaked up 286 balls while scoring 87 in England’s first innings total of 578 in a First Test it won at Chennai, Bazball blasters Ben Duckett (35) and Zak Crawley (20) took a different approach.

They had 50 on the board inside 11 overs in what couldn’t have been a better first hour for the visitors.

But the introduction of spin sparked the loss of both openers and first drop Ollie Pope (1) in a span of just five runs as Ravi Ashwin (3/68), Ravi Jadeja (3/88) and Axar Patel (2/33) had their way.

Joe Root (29 from 60) and Jonny Bairstow (37 from 58) were forced to be cautious as the Poms were reduced to 7/155 and scoring at three runs an over.

Jonny Bairstow is helped by a medic during the first day. (Photo by Noah SEELAM / AFP)

A standout knock from Ben Stokes (70 from 88 balls) pushed the total to 246, but it wasn’t long before it looked far from competitive.

Emerging opener Yashasvi Jaiswal led India’s charging reply, clubbing an unbeaten 76 off just 70 deliveries to leave India 1/119 from 23 overs at stumps and looking like the far more attacking outfit.

India's score after 10 overs against England today (68-0) is higher than their score after 10 overs during the T20 World Cup Semi Final in Adelaide (62-2)

— Kieran (@kieran_cricket) January 25, 2024

Left-hander Jaiswal reached his fifty in 47 balls with a boundary off debutant Tom Hartley, whose bruising introduction to Test cricket saw him leak 63 runs from nine overs.

Hartley was included as one of three spinners alongside Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed. Mark Wood was the only seamer – the first time England had entered a match with just one quick in its history.

The early results didn’t justify the decision and saw the Poms slammed by cricket commentators.

Tom Hartley and Ben Stokes try to find answers. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“Bazbollocks has moved from batting to bowling. Absurd selection,” Jim Maxwell tweeted. “Unbalanced. Inexperienced.”

“It was a chastening opening day for England’s bowlers,” added Jonathan Agnew. “What an innings from Jaiswal. We wondered about the inexperience of England’s bowlers and he took them to the cleaners.

“Jack Leach is going to have to bowl a lot of overs in this series. The quality of England’s spin bowlers has been demonstrated today.”

Picking one seamer when seam bowling is your strength is a bit mad.

If two spinners and Root won’t take you 20 wickets another spinner won’t help.

Is an inexperienced spinner playing first Test in India more likely to give you control and wickets than Jimmy or Robinson?

— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) January 25, 2024

Leach (1/24 from nine) was the only bowler to strike, having Rohit Sharma caught in the deep by Stokes for 24.

But Jaiswal stood firm with Shubman Gill (14 not out) to keep India odds-on for a first-innings lead.

Stokes topscored after the visitors opted to bat first, sticking to their ultra-attacking “Bazball” strategy to counter India’s renowned home-turf spin prowess.

England had lost regular wickets until Stokes took charge and lifted the total, smashing six fours and three sixes.

He also put together key lower-order stands with Hartley (23) and Mark Wood (11) before he was finally bowled by paceman Jasprit Bumrah (2/28) after tea in the final wicket of the innings.

Australian fans can’t laugh too hard after a similarly abysmal start to our Test tour of India last year, where we made scores of 177 and 91 in an innings defeat with a middle order featuring Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb.

But it’s still nice to see the Poms struggle.

– with AFP