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Following a 28-run defeat for India in the first Test against England, the head coach Rahul Dravid admitted the need for his team to counter the Bazball strategy in the remaining four matches of the series. On Day 4 of the Test, India were unable to chase down a 231-run target in front of an inspired bowling performance from England.
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Notably, the first two days of the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad were in India’s favour, who managed to amass a 190-run first-innings lead. But England made a very good comeback in the second innings, firstly with the high-quality 196 from Ollie Pope to set up a competitive target for the opposition before the debutant Tom Hartley picked up seven wickets to help bowl out India for 212 runs.
The Indian head coach Rahul Dravid addressed the media during the post-match press conference, talking about how they need to compete against the ultra-aggressive batting from England, which is famously called Bazball, named after their head coach Brendon McCullum.
He was quoted as saying, as per Times of India, “ We'll hav e 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.”
Rahul Dravid also appreciated Ollie Pope for his exhibition of sweeps and reverse sweeps during his 196 in the second innings for England, and said, “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.”