"India are still trying to work out their style of play" - Isa Guha points at 'striking' differences with England [Exclusive]

Since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces, England have won 24 of the 37 Tests played. But despite the entertainment it talked and later walked, Bazball has copped a fair share of criticism as well. For every fan clapping at a first-ball cover drive from Zak Crawley, a reverse ramp by Joe Root, or Harry Brook’s glory shot on 99, there’s also a pundit trying to equate the boldness with recklessness.

The initial challenge for Bazball was to shut out the noise and stick to their blueprint regardless of the situation. England have been called a one-trick pony far too many times, amplified further after every defeat. But, a closer look at the stats explains McCullum’s stoic countenance caught on cameras during matches.

Out of 12 full series, England have lost just two, both away from home, with the defeat in India considered more deflating than the one in Pakistan – they won the opener on both accounts. Let’s split their record with the India tour. Ben Stokes & Co. had won 13 out of 18 Tests when they came to the subcontinent at the start of 2024. But more stunningly, their run rate was an astounding 4.82 and they averaged 39.11 per wicket.

The five-match series was a rude awakening, of course, and they were pilloried by their own players. And you’d be lured into thinking that they tempered after that. But since firing out of the blocks in June 2022 up until the start of the current series versus India, they have maintained a rate of 4.63 and an average of 36.12. And it points to only one attribute in bold: they know what they are doing and they back themselves to the hilt. And it also explains why Stokes has opted to bowl first more than any of his predecessors – the latest Headingley Test marked the 11th instance and the eighth win.

Meanwhile, India are yet to fixate on their tempo. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Isa Guha highlighted this tentativeness as a potential pitfall on their current tour.

“I think they are still trying to work out their style of play. But the pitches will suit them more than we think because of the hot conditions over the next few weeks. It will be an exciting series,” the former England seamer said at the start of the five-Test series.

After scoring at 8.22 versus Bangladesh to win the Kanpur Test in effectively two and a half days, head coach Gautam Gambhir famously backed his boys to score 400 runs in a day. It didn’t go down well as India lost six of their next eight Tests, including a first-ever 0-3 whitewash at home.

Since the appointment of the former India opener, India have struck at 3.75 an over and logged 25.95 per wicket. While the run rate is an improvement on that of Rahul Dravid’s team (since June 2022), the average is a significant drop from the corresponding 34.75.

England from June 2022 until the start of this series:

Period	Matches	Innings	Won	Lost	Draw	Average	Run rate	W/L
Before India tour	18	34	13	4	1	39.11	4.82	3.250
After India tour	13	23	9	3	0	37.36	4.71	2.250
Overall	36	67	23	12	1	36.12	4.63	1.916

India in the same tenure:

Period	Matches	Innings	Won	Lost	Draw	Average	Run rate	W/L
Under Rahul Dravid	17	30	10	5	2	34.75	3.48	2.000
Under Gautam Gambhir	10	20	3	6	1	25.95	3.75	0.500
Overall	27	50	13	11	3	31.17	3.57	1.181

Rishabh Pant’s performance in the Melbourne Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy accentuated this irresolution. After his “stupid, stupid, stupid” dismissal in the first innings, he shut shop in the second to score 30 off 104 balls. Before that innings, he was striking at 62.94.

Day 4 morning of the Headingley Test also seemed anachronistic to the rest of the match. A well-set KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, coming off a century in the first innings, produced the lowest-scoring (63 runs) session in the entire match. With a lead of only 95 runs on the penultimate day, it was unusual to see India score at 2.61 an over with only six boundaries in good batting conditions.

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"Ben Stokes makes you feel 10 feet taller" - Isa Guha

Ben Stokes has a chat with Chris Woakes during a nets session at Edgbaston

A lot of India’s missteps in the first Test were put down to a young captain and the team going through transition – the new buzzword in Indian cricket circles. And this is where Brendon McCullum deserves more credit. The former New Zealand captain not only has the results to show for but also steered the ship through similar waters.

“I think he is an incredibly wise man whom the youngsters really look up to. I think he allows Ben to take the lead but then, has his eyes on the bigger picture and makes sure he can support and nurture along with the support he has available. Experience counts for a lot when it comes to Baz and he has a good way of keeping everyone calm and deflecting pressure, diffusing tension,” Isa Guha told Sportskeeda.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also got the right leader in Ben Stokes, who has always made people believe through his maverick ways.

“His aura and obsession with pushing the limits of what’s possible is incredible. Some of the things he’s done on the field in pressure moments are a source of inspiration for a lot of people. As a leader, he is one of the best England have ever had. When he’s in your camp, he makes you feel 10 feet taller,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Stokes’ priorities and commitment are highlighted by his remarkable journey from being the top buy in consecutive IPL auctions to becoming the best all-rounder in the longest format. Though he hasn’t re-retired, the 34-year-old’s last ODI appearance came at the 2023 World Cup. And after hitting the winning runs in the 2022 T20 World Cup final, Stokes opted out of the 2024 edition, terming it “a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.”

Are we departing from the obsession over three-format players to again go the specialised way?

“I think the best players are able to transition between the formats and have an impact in all of them. The quicker you can adapt, the better you are. But to reach legend status, you need to be doing it consistently over a long period of time and, to do that, you need to find space to reset and have mental/physical breaks,” Isa Guha, who took 29 wickets in 8 Tests, opined.

Since McCullum and Stokes’ first series in charge in June 2022, England have handed Test debuts to 16 players. In the same period, Sai Sudharsan became India’s 14th. The cumulative experience of their playing 11 in Leeds was 333. On the other hand, the hosts’ combined Test caps, barring Joe Root’s, were not so far behind at 370.

Root’s gradual shift from trying too hard to buy into his team’s new ethos to ameliorating his natural game, has sort of rubbed off on the team as well.

“Bazball is a mindset of playing fearlessly and breaking any restrictions in your head about your own game. It’s been refined in the last six months to combine it with being hyper-focused on playing a situation,” Guha stated.

That is exactly what England did early on Day 5. Both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were circumspect against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, and the early morning moisture, to later stick it to Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja.

While Duckett is extremely innovative, Crawley is perceived to be the more cavalier of the two – both are bold in their own right. At Headingley, though, the latter played more prudently while the southpaw kept the asking rate in check.

“In any team, it’s important to have a blend of the two. That’s where Zak is fortunate to have the license to play with freedom because of those who come in around him. Especially when you have the experience of people like Joe Root and Ben Stokes, who can weather the storm if needed and take it deep. And he has found a great partner in Ben Duckett,” Isa Guha, who won both the 50-over and T20 World Cups in 2009, stated.

Contrary to perception, in the Bazball era, Duckett has struck at 88.07 as compared to Crawley’s 74.42. Currently being held as the best all-format batter, the Nottinghamshire lad not only has the ability to bat deep but also accelerate seamlessly. His first 85 balls in the fourth innings in Leeds accounted for 63 runs, and the next 85 fetched 84. It sort of mirrored the entire 371-run chase, where nobody was over the top yet contributed to a whole that seemed greater than the sum of its parts.

Meanwhile, Crawley’s average of 31.55 after 100 innings does little to justify his immense potential. There were murmurs of looking for someone else to partner Duckett, before the 27-year-old put a lid on them with a 124 in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe.

Also under immense pressure at the start of the summer was England’s Test vice-captain Ollie Pope, who has averaged 35.95 after the same number of outings. He too kept his place courtesy of a 171 in the Trent Bridge game, amid mounting pressure from the emergence of spin-bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell.

“I think he gets focused on by the media more so than most, purely because Jacob Bethell is a real talent and people are finding ways to get him in. I imagine it can seem very unfair, but he’s got to be patient as he will be in it for the long haul,” Isa Guha added.

The England No. 3 is likely to have saved his seat for the entire home season, following a breezy 106 against India in the first innings. The thinktank also warrants praise: just how the players back their game and what the team wants, the management has also earned their respect by backing them regardless of the external noise.

This is where India can take leaf out of after having as many as 20 changes to their playing XI across the last two Test series.

The maximum attention in England's middle order, however, is garnered by the mercurial Harry Brook. He has the highest average, more than even Joe Root, since Stokes and McCullum took over. The 26-year-old rode through luck to smash a 112-ball 99 before falling to Shardul Thakur for a golden duck in the chase.

“I don’t think he polarises opinion. He is one of the most naturally gifted players out there and one of those players that seemingly finds it easy to transition across formats,” Guha lauded.

England's highest run-getters under Bazball:

Name	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	Best	50s	100s
Joe Root	65	3198	57.10	68.62	262	13	11
Ben Duckett	56	2511	47.37	88.07	182	13	6
Harry Brook	43	2438	58.04	88.84	317	12	8
Ollie Pope	60	2383	40.38	74.77	205	9	8
Zak Crawley	62	2005	33.41	74.42	189	12	3
Ben Stokes	55	1720	33.72	67.45	155	9	2
Jonny Bairstow	30	1241	45.96	87.82	162	4	4
Jamie Smith	18	725	45.31	73.08	111	4	1
Ben Foakes	24	633	30.14	46.99	113*	3	1
Gus Atkinson	16	352	23.46	79.10	118	0	1

Brook was recently appointed full-time white-ball captain, as part of wholesale changes induced by England’s tepid run in limited-overs cricket.

“Sometimes you just go through phases. There’s a lot of talent in the UK and I think sometimes it just doesn’t click. I have faith that things will turn around,” she said.

Their bowling attack looked the weaker of the two arms, in the absence of senior pros like Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson. They are going with the same line-up at Edgbaston.

“There’s no doubt it’s inexperienced but, if anyone can get the best out of the attack, it’s Ben Stokes. It makes it even important that he is fit and bowling as well,” Isa Guha said.

The skipper was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings, returning figures of four for 66 from 20 overs. While the experienced Chris Woakes seemed off-colour on his return from injury, Brydon Carse (1/96 & 3/80) and Josh Tongue (4/86 & 3/72) got better over the five days.

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"Shubman Gill has to be patient" - Isa Guha

Isa Guha and Shubman Gill during the first Test at Headingley

Shubman Gill was crowned the fifth-youngest men’s Test captain, not to help India win in England for the first time since 2007 but mainly to develop a team through the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

The Headingley Test served plenty of reminders that the 25-year-old didn’t hit the ground running. He was more reactive than proactive; KL Rahul and deputy Rishabh Pant were seen doing the majority of the talking to the bowlers and field settings.

“He has to be patient with it and I think he will be afforded that even more so than other captains because of his age and inexperience. There are a lot of talented youngsters coming out of India, so it’s about finding their identity under his leadership. He appears very calm, mature and focused, and I sense this will translate to the way they play,” Isa Guha, who played 83 ODIs and 22 T20Is, said.

There are more eyes on Gill because he’s following in the footsteps of two successful skippers and giants of Indian cricket.

“Sad to see them go, especially Virat, for what he did for Test cricket globally. It’s the end of an era for Indian Test cricket with Ashwin going too. But there will always be another generation and a lot of them can make a name for themselves here,” she added.

For all the obvious mistakes, India also had a handful of positives to seek out ahead of the second Test. But their biggest trump card in Jasprit Bumrah is supposed to be available for only two of the remaining four matches. Isa Guha predicts England would win the series 3-1.

For now, Shubman Gill, as he mentioned in his first press conference as captain, can focus on giving his players comfort around their weaknesses and strengths.