‘Bazball won’t die wondering’: Nasser Hussain warns India against preparing rank turners for Test series
Former captain Nasser Hussain has warned India for not preparing rank turners for the five-match Test series against England, starting from January 25 in Hyderabad.
“If I am in the Indian management, I would ask for good pitches, that spin a bit. Because then their spinners and batters will out bat and out spin ours,” Nasser Hussain told Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“If they ask for pitches that spin a lot then it becomes a bit of a lottery and brings England’s spinners into the game. The way Bazball goes about its business, the way England’s batting goes, they won’t die wondering.”
England last won a Test series in India in 2012-13 under the captaincy of Alastair Cook where spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar starred in the momentous 2-1 triumph. Hussain also said that Indian fans are waiting to see how their side can put England’s Bazball strategy to bed.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Indian cricket and there’s been a lot of talk about Bazball,” said Hussain.
“My sense in the World Cup was that a lot of Indian fans are waiting to see how to put Bazball to bed,” he added.
Hussain also recollected how the pitches started turning from ball one after England won the Chennai Test in 2021.
“I think that if England go ahead as they did last time, then I expect both Rohit and Rahul will just have a little bit of tap on grounds men hat, saying we want more spin,” he said.
Hussain also shared few suggestion for the England batters on how to negotiate the spin trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
“If Ashwin is bowling and it is spinning out of the rough, the big booming drive is still a high risk shot. Jadeja angling in and clipping leg, using your bat and pad together against Axar Patel. These are just no go areas, whatever the mindset your batting line-up has,” he said.