‘Humiliation’: Bazball trashed after Pakistan’s 30-year comeback over England
England’s Bazball revolution has hit a major speed bump after they were blown off the park in a historic result for Pakistan.
Is this the end of Bazball?
There will no doubt be eulogies galore for England’s bold mentality after the side collapsed to a nine wicket loss to lose the three-match series to Pakistan in Pakistan.
Winning on the road has been difficult in world cricket for all but Pakistan, who hasn’t won at home since a two-match series against South Africa in early 2021.
Since then, Pakistan have suffered three series losses to Australia, England and Bangladesh on home soil.
Until now.
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After an innings and 47 run loss in the first Test, Pakistan claimed a 152-run victory in Multan in the second Test before wrapping up the decider in a crushing nine wicket victory.
While the match could be remembered for the vision of giant fans aiming to dry out the pitch at Rawalpindi before the Test, it’s an important victory for the nation as they try to rebuild.
It’s only the second time in Pakistan’s history the side has come from behind to win a series — the last time was also a 2-1 victory on the road in Zimbabwe in 1995.
Noman Ali and Sajid Khan delivered a spin masterclass, taking all 10 English wickets, dismissing the visitors for just 112 as Pakistan wrapped up the series before lunch on day three of the match.
Chasing 36 to win, captain Shan Masood made quick work of it after the loss of Saim Ayub, blasting five boundaries in six balls including a six to bring up the win, finishing on 23 not out as Pakistan knocked off the runs in just 3.1 overs.
“We’d like to dedicate this to the people of Pakistan, who’ve been through a lot,” Masood said after his first series win as captain.
“Hopefully this will put a smile on people’s faces, and hopefully we can have full houses during matches.”
The 2-1 series win appeared improbable after England destroyed the hosts in the first Test in Multan by an innings and 47 runs, leading to the axing of superstars Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, as well as pacer Naseem Shah.
Replacements Noman and Sajid turned the series on its head, knocking over 39 wickets between them in the subsequent two Tests.
“The first win came after a long time and it was backed up by a series win. It’s special,” Masood said.
“For everyone, to stand up and give their best, it means a lot. It’s about character. To be here and standing as the winning team, it’s the most special thing for us.”
England’s second innings total of 112 was the side’s lowest in Pakistan, beating their previous low of 130 in Lahore in 1987.
Joe Root’s 33 and Harry Brook’s 26 were the only resistance as England threw away their wickets, with former England captain Nasser Hussain saying the result exposed “Bazball’s kryptonite”.
“The first thing you have to say is congratulations to Pakistan for making that change,” Hussain said.
“You felt they needed to. They’d lost six Tests in a row, Shan Masood himself had lost all six as captain, they were going nowhere. The fans were not happy with the way they were playing.
“So they made a real drastic change. New selectors, different pitches completely, as in they used the Multan pitch again — complete turner.
“They came here, the unusual tactics here, made it turn and they found the kryptonite to Bazball because they’ve found spinners who are of the absolute highest quality. Those two spinners have bowled beautifully and they have players who play spin really well. So why wouldn’t you play on turning pitches?
“What it has done is expose England when the ball does spin. If you go back to Multan, first Test, (England scored) 800 on a road. You come here two years ago in Rawalpindi, 500 in a day, 650 and they win the game.
“When it spins and when it’s gripping, England don’t play spin as well as Pakistan and their spinners don’t bowl spin as well as Pakistan and then they are very vulnerable and Pakistan have jumped on that and won the series.
“The discrepancy in the England side is a concern. It shouldn’t be so drastic that you play so well on flat pitches, but the moment it grips you can’t play like that and so then you’re lost.
“And three of your top six seem to be lost at the moment. I’m talking about Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, or even Stokes in Asia … his last 10 scores are very low in these conditions. He used to be our best player of spin.”
Fellow former England captain Michael Vaughan agreed, tweeting: “Fantastic series win for Pakistan . As soon as the pitches started to spin they dominated England . It happened in India last year and now Pakistan . Englands high risk strategy doesn’t work against the spinning ball.”
Pakistan legend Wasim Akram posted: “Very impressive series win at Rawalpindi … I hope this victory will take Pakistan cricket forward. It was an impressive comeback after losing the toss but strategy of employing spin pitches in the last two Tests worked. As a former player I feel hurt at a defeat … so happy that a great win has come about.”
Former 30-Test England all-rounder Derek Pringle said: “Oh Dear…. an absolute tonking for England’s Test team in Rawalpindi. Defeat before lunch on the 3rd day is humiliation and what can happen on a turning track when your batters have little defensive technique (Root excepted) …
“It was widely thought that Pakistan had no spinners of note and that their strength play in pace bowling … … just showed the world that Bazball very vulnerable to spin of any kind.”
Another fan posted: “This series will always be etched in the history books to highlight emphatically that the Baz Ball era only truly shone on flat pitches.”
England skipper Ben Stokes was disappointed by the result.
“We got thrown some challenges over these last two games and we just weren’t able to match that. Full credit to Pakistan,” he said.
“The summer finished late for us at home, we had some guys playing one-day series but, look, the lads trained incredibly hard and are always trying to get better. The pressure of Test match cricket can never compare to training.”
With AFP
Originally published as ‘Humiliation’: Bazball trashed after Pakistan’s 30-year comeback over England
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