3 ways Bazball can improve to compete better and win more Tests

England's ultra-attacking philosophy, also known as 'Bazball', got a pretty harsh reality check in their recent five-match Test series against India as they were thrashed 1-4. Skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had not lost a Test series together until they came up against Rohit Sharma and his men.

The visitors got off to a great start in the first Test in Hyderabad as they completed an incredible win by 28 runs. It seemed like the Bazball ideology could possibly succeed in its 'final frontier'. However, it wasn't to be as the Indian team gradually began to show true shades of their quality and ended up winning all the remaining games.

England find themselves languishing in the eighth place in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table and managed just 17.5 points percentage so far this cycle. They certainly need to reflect on their ideology and on that note, here are three factors by which Bazball can be improved upon to help England get more competitive in Tests and win more:

---

#3 Have a customized plan for each batter

While the idea of Bazball is to remove the fear of failure from the minds of the batters and give them freedom to express themselves, there were several occasions in the Test series where England batters played reckless shots.

The biggest example of them all was star batter Joe Root, who decided to reverse sweep Jasprit Bumrah in the Rajkot Test during a phase where England had the opportunity to dominate the Indians. However, his dismissal with that shot opened the floodgates for the hosts and the latter ensured they were ruthless.

Root then went back to his traditional approach and smashed a sensational 122* in Ranchi. He could have possibly had another Test hundred in Dharamsala had he not run out of partners. Bazball probably needs to let different batters trust their approach of going about their innings instead of trying to buy into one philosphy.

---

#2 Develop experienced spinners

India lost their last Test series on home soil back in 2012 against England and one of the major reasons for the same was the presence of quality spinners like Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in the visitors' ranks.

England took a punt in backing inexperienced spinners like Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir. While Hartley and Bashir were impressive in patches, the Indian batters feasted on their inexperience as it led to inconsistent line and length.

Be it in India or across any conditions, England need to develop quality spinners. They need to ensure the likes of Bashir and Hartley play county cricket and, if possible, play long form cricket in different conditions to get further prepared for delivering consistently on the international stage.

---

#1 Bazball should be more open to accepting tactical errors

Arguably the biggest challenge that Bazball faces is its rigidity to adapting to different conditions. 'This is our way and this is how we will play' will not work in most situations because if there's just one approach to everything, the opposition will work out a way eventually.

The statements made by some of the England players and management about saving Test cricket and bringing entertainment probably show a level of delusion when they do not address mistakes like playing a reckless shot. It is in the best interest of Bazball to realize that it is okay to fail as long as they learn from it and adapt.

If England look at the series defeat in India the right way and tweak a few aspects of their ideology, they can certainly become a force to reckon with by sustaining their aggressive brand of cricket.