Brendon McCullum says England will block out the criticism and stick with their aggressive approach for the fourth Test against India, despite suffering a humiliating defeat in Rajkot last time out.
England were hammered by 434 runs in the third Test despite finishing day two in a strong position, with two batting collapses coming either side of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten 214 for the hosts.
It was India’s biggest-ever Test win in terms of runs, and the heaviest inflicted upon England since Australia won by 562 runs at The Oval in 1934.
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With England now 2-1 down in the series and needing a response when the fourth Test begins in Ranchi on Friday, some have suggested the limitations of McCullum’s ‘Bazball’ style have been exposed.
However, he says England’s players remain committed to their approach and will continue to take the game to India next time out.
“People are entitled to their opinion, good, bad or ugly,” the former New Zealand captain said. “It’s up to us whether we want to listen to it or not.
“The dressing room is a very strong place, where confidence is high and guys are backed to go out there and allow their talent to flourish. If we allow the outside noise to seep in, that’s our problem.
Defeat in Rajkot. India move into a 2-1 lead 🏏
Match Centre: HTTPS://T.CO/W5T5FEBY7T
🇮🇳 #INDVENG 🏴 #ENGLANDCRICKET PIC.TWITTER.COM/OJE5BF5HD5
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) FEBRUARY 18, 2024
“We’ll turn the page and go quids in again, trying to put India under pressure. Hopefully in seven or eight days we’ll be talking about how exciting it is to be heading into a decider.”
England were widely praised for their enterprising style when they took the opener in a dramatic finish, but McCullum says the high-risk, high-reward nature of their approach means ups and downs should be expected.
“We’ve still got some progress to make and some things to improve on, but we’re a better team now than we were 18 months ago,” he added.
“We’re obviously not totally screwed down on the method yet. There will be times when we don’t quite get it right because it’s a hard way to play.
“It’s about asking guys to take the game on and sometimes we have to deal with failure.
“The upside is hopefully continuing to put bums on seats, make Test cricket more entertaining, we’ll win more often and we’ll be a team that people really want to follow.”
🚨 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙩! 🚨
With a winning margin of 434 runs in Rajkot, #TEAMINDIA register their biggest Test victory ever 👏🔝
A historic win courtesy of some memorable performances 👌👌
Scorecard ▶️ HTTPS://T.CO/FM0HVG5X8M#INDVENG | @IDFCFIRSTBANK PIC.TWITTER.COM/NXBJLAYQ7K
— BCCI (@BCCI) FEBRUARY 18, 2024
McCullum was also asked whether Jonny Bairstow will keep his place in Ranchi despite struggling since Ben Foakes took the gloves.
In response to that question, McCullum said: “You know I can’t answer that, I haven’t even seen the wicket. But I’d anticipate Jonny would be playing, yes.”
