Kevin Pietersen analyzes why Bazball isn't effective in India as England batsmen struggle against top-tier spin bowling

England's ongoing difficulties against spin were evident once again in the second T20I against India on Saturday, as they lost six of their batters to spinners. Varun Chakaravarthy, with his impressive performance of taking two wickets, continued to cause problems for the England batsmen. Additionally, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, with two and one wicket respectively, proved to be challenging for the English team. Surprisingly, even Abhishek Sharma managed to trouble England's batters by taking one wicket.

The visitors were all at sea in the opening T20I where they could only score 132; in the second match, the Jos Buttler-led side played with a more aggressive intent, not hesitating to attempt audacious shots against the Indian spinners. While England did reach 165/9 in their 20 overs, they failed to stitch partnerships, with Indian spinners outfoxing them at regular intervals.

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen believes it is not possible for ‘Bazball’ – a name given to England's aggressive brand of cricket under Brendon McCullum – would work consistently in subcontinental conditions.

During a question-and-answers session on X (formerly Twitter), Pietersen wrote, “Bazball don’t work against high quality spin consistently! There is an art to playing spin in the subcontinent.”

Earlier, after England's first T20I defeat in Kolkata, batter Harry Brook had conceded he finds it challenging to tackle spin in the shortest format.

“Facing spin in T20 cricket is probably the hardest thing in the game, especially because I always get out trying to absolutely smack it,” he said. “Maybe I’ve got to rein in a little bit, but we’ll see.”

Brook also added that the smog in Kolkata added to the difficulty in facing Indian spinners; however, Brook fell cheaply to Varun Chakaravarthy in Chennai, too, where the conditions were significantly clearer.

India 2-0 ahead in five-match series

On Saturday, Tilak Varma's fifty under pressure helped India survive a top-order meltdown against England pacers and register a two-wicket win in the second T20I and take a 2-0 lead.

Tilak (72 not out, 55b, 4x4, 5x6) cleverly used the extreme pace of English bowlers to amass runs, and singlehandedly took India past the target, as the hosts finished the night at 166 for eight.

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