Geoffrey Boycott has accused England of ‘losing the plot’ after they lost the second Test match of the series against India and stated that they ‘gave the match away’ by being too attacking.
England were tasked with scoring a record of 399 runs in Visakhapatnam but were ultimately defeated for 292 runs. The result means the series is tied at 1-1 going into next week’s third Test. England’s run rate in the fourth innings was 4.12, with several batsmen taking aggressive shots. Joe Root’s innings particularly stood out after his frenetic 16 off 10 balls and attempted big deliveries.
Boycott wrote in his Telegraph column: “Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are into attacking, attacking, attacking. It’s as if they’re saying, ‘If we don’t win, we’ll perish in failure with glory instead.’ But there’s no glory in failure or defeat. there is no. Buzz Ball is great entertainment once it starts. However, once you believe in ideals rather than reality, you lose your way. England decided the match today. Buzz Ball was a failure.
“Joe Root lost his wicket to a buzz ball. As soon as he came in, he danced around the pitch trying to hit the ball and immediately started hitting the ball in the air. He only scored 16 runs.England’s best technical batsmen are usually busy players with a high strike rate, but trying to start bowling as soon as you arrive takes you out of your comfort zone.”< /p>
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Root has scored 52 runs in four innings on tour so far, but has failed to score a half-century for India in his last 11 Test innings. Zak Crawley was the only England batsman to score more than 50 in England’s second innings, scoring 73 before being left-handed by Kuldeep Yadav.
“Twenty20 cricket seems to have gotten into their heads and made them think that every ball needs to be hit with an aggressive swing, swing, strike or cross-batting shot,” Boycott wrote. “Twenty20 is cricket’s answer to baseball, where you try to hit big shots every time. England’s batting technique was similar to Twenty20.”
Despite the defeat, England’s 292 runs are the second highest of any touring team to bat in India recently and the most in a losing match. The friendly was England’s second away defeat under Stokes and McCullum, the first being in Wellington last year.
Boycott also cited last year’s Ashes series as another example of England “abandoning” Test matches because of their playing style. After losing the first two Test matches of the series, England won the third and fifth matches. A draw in the fourth Test meant Australia retained the Ashes.
“You would have thought England would have learned from their ashes distribution last summer,” Boycott wrote. “‘Gung-ho’ blows at Edgbaston and Lord’s cost the Friendly team two men. Runs, not style, win Test matches.
“It was fun to score in five overs, but too many batsmen gave away their wickets after a good start.” The best way to approach a total of 400 is if one of the batsmen gets a big hundred is to achieve. Chasing a good bowler and trying to score quickly is risky. ”
The third Test of the series will be held in Rajkot on February 15.
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