‘We’ve got an opportunity in the next 18 months’- Brendon McCullum opens up on future of ‘Bazball’ after losing their 1st Test series

Before the Anthony de Mello trophy started excitement was palpable among fans about how the ‘Bazball’ approach would fare against India at their home turf. It started well as England came back from a precarious position to win the first Test by 28 runs and people started believing that this England team would topple the Indian dominance at home but it wasn’t meant to be as India despite being short on resources came back strongly and got an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the series.

But despite losing the series, England played some competitive cricket in the series and was in a position to win in the 3rd test and 4th tests. England let go of the grip of the match at crucial junctures despite being in an advantageous position which cost them the series.

Brendon McCullum reflects on England’s performance

Brendon McCullum who along with Ben Stokes is the pioneer of the ‘Bazball’ approach is still positive about the way they played and is hopeful that they can achieve much more than they have managed to in the times to come.

Speaking to the UK media on the series, McCullum said, “We’re disappointed we’ve gone down in the series, but at the same time we’re proud of the efforts of the guys.” said McCullum on Tuesday. “We’ve had our moments throughout this series, we’ve performed well at times and been outplayed in others. It’s been a great contest and you’ve got to acknowledge that India, at the times where the game has been sitting on the line, have stepped up and performed.”

McCullum further added, “We weren’t quite good enough when it mattered. Or India was better, to be honest, than us being not quite good enough. We’ve lost this series and we didn’t win the Ashes but we’re a better cricket team than we were 18 months ago and we’ve got an opportunity in the next 18 months to do some pretty special shit. I’m fizzing for it, to be honest.”