‘Never seen so much…’: Dravid admits India failed to tackle ‘Bazball’

NEW DELHI: England’s unorthodox batting approach that involved executing sweeps, reverse sweeps and reverse scoops to perfection unsettled India bowlers and head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that the hosts will have to counter ‘Bazball‘ to make a comeback in the series.
As Ollie Pope‘s magical 196 in the second innings helped England seal an unforgettable 28-run win over India in Hyderabad on Sunday, Dravid said he hasn’t seen such unorthodox shots being played so consistently.
Despite taking a heavy 190-run lead, Pope daddy ton took England to 420 all out in second innings and chasing 231 for victory, India folded for 202 in the fourth innings late on the penultimate day of the first Test.
India had only lost once after taking an advantage of this size, and it came against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2015 where they went ahead by 192 runs.
“We’ll have to counter that (Bazball). I certainly haven’t seen it being done that (playing sweeps, reverse sweeps) consistently against that quality of bowlers. You’ve seen people try that before, and play some exceptional innings.
“But to be able to play it that consistently and that successfully without making that many mistakes, and maybe one or two odd mistakes, I probably haven’t seen it,” said Dravid during his post-match press meet on Sunday.
Dravid lauded Pope for pulling off reverse sweeps regularly to upset the bowlers’ rhythm.
“Yeah, especially, the reverse sweep…I think the sweep is something that we’ve seen people employ in the past. But to be able to play a reverse sweep that consistently and that successfully for that long, you know, hats off to Pope.”
The 26-year-old Englishman’s effort was marked by his dominance over experienced Indian spinners – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who struggled for impact in the third innings on a pitch that offered considerable turn.
However, Dravid didn’t abandon his trusted soldiers and hoped that the pair would bounce back sooner than later.
Dravid, though, did not lose sight of the need to get better at execution.
“We have to get more disciplined with where we pitch the ball. We will work on it and we will get better at it as we got some world-class spinners. It’s not the first time that they’ve been challenged.
“One of the good things about our spinners is that they’ve always come back. But Pope truly played an exceptional innings. And if somebody does something exceptional, we’ll shake his hand and congratulate him.”
But that sportsman spirit apart, India will have to seriously plan how to unsettle this cavalier England group, in particular a high on confidence Pope.
Dravid, primarily, wanted his bowlers to regain their lines.
“It’s important that we respond. We need to come up with some plans and strategies and see how we can make him (Pope) play those shots from even more difficult lines.
“We need to be even more disciplined and meticulous with our execution because I thought our execution was a little bit off. Hopefully, in the next Test match if we get our execution right, then I hope he makes a mistake,” said Dravid.
India also had an injury scare as Ravindra Jadeja walked back clutching his hamstring after being run out while attempting a risky single.
Jadeja was caught well short of the crease by Ben Stokes‘ direct hit.
Dravid said they will keep a check on the all-rounder as the second Test at Visakhapatnam is starting on February 2.
“We’ll see. I honestly haven’t had a chance to speak to the physio as yet. Once I get back, I’ll speak to him and see what it is about,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)