"Can they consistently do that in every country"- Ravichandran Ashwin on England's bazball approach

Indian ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has lauded the English team for producing a favorable result in the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on a placid wicket that had hardly anything on offer for the bowlers. England managed to find a way to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

England were ultra-aggressive in their approach right from the word go and posted 507 runs in just 75 overs on Day 1 before bad light brought a premature end to the day.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin reckoned that it was incredible to see England scoring 921 runs during the course of the game at an unbelievable run rate of 6.7. However, the question remains whether England would have employed the same approach if they were in contention for a potential WTC final berth.

Ashwin mentioned that Michael Atherton had asserted that irrespective of the situation and the surface on offer, England will continue playing this aggressive brand of cricket and that has been unanimously decided by the Test captain and the coach.

Ravichandran Ashwin said:

“Michael Atherton has said that they will play like this everywhere. During the Test match, Bazid Khan said that England had nothing to lose from this Test match as they are not in contention for the WTC final to which Atherton replied that McCullum and Ben Stokes has decided that is going to be their approach going forward.

"In fact, no matter how the pitch is, it looked like they will play this way and take the pitch out of the equation. That what England exactly did. Looking forward to seeing more of Bazball. We will see how Bazball goes and in what approach it goes because in this Test match, England scored 921 runs in 137 overs at 6.7 RPO. Can you believe it? "

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Ravichandran Ashwin unsure regarding bazball approach in different conditions

While Ravichandran Ashwin feels that England have adopted an approach that suits their style, he is still not sure whether the approach will be sustainable in every condition.

Since McCullum’s appointment as a Test coach, England had played all their matches at home but to win in Rawalpindi on such a flat track will definitely go a long way in making them one of the strongest Test teams.

“They are playing the way that would suit them using the marketability and stuff. But until this Test, they largely played on home soil. But this game was played in Pakistan and to produce thus result here has impressed many people,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.

“Many people are saying that this is the way Test cricket should be played. But as far as I am concerned, can they consistently do that in every country they tour? Say South Africa, Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka,” he added.

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A famous win for England at Rawalpindi

The English bowling attack rose to the occasion on the final day and managed to bowl Pakistan out for 268. It was a brave decision from Stokes to declare, which paid dividends for the visitors in the end.

Riding on the back of splendid spells from Ollie Robinson and veteran James Anderson, who bagged 4 wickets each, England registered a 75-run victory.

The second Test is slated to be played in Multan from December 9 (Friday) and it’s now or never for the hosts.

England will be high on confidence after their famous win at Pindi but Pakistan on their home turf is a tough proposition and they will certainly come out all guns blazing and level the series.

The final Test will be played in Karachi from December 17.