“We Will Close This Chapter”: Brendon McCullum Though Rajkot thrashes them, hopeful England may force a decisive match

Although the tourists are undoubtedly reeling after the crushing loss in the third Test against India, England coach Brendon McCullum said that his team would stick to their aggressive “Bazball” strategy for the whole of the five-match series.

In the third Test, England’s “Bazball” strategy failed miserably as they lost by an overwhelming 434 runs, their worst run-count loss since 1934, to fall down 1-2 in the series.

Yet, McCullum said that he had “no regrets” about their strategy.

According to BBC Sport, McCullum said, “We’ll turn the page and go quids in again trying to put India under pressure.” “Hopefully, we’ll be discussing how exciting it is to be approaching a decider in seven or eight days.”

Ranchi will host the fourth Test starting on Friday.

Prior to the loss in Rajkot, England enjoyed an impressive run of results under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, winning 14 of their 20 Test matches with an aggressive style of play.

“Any opinion—good, bad, or ugly—is someone’s right,” the former captain of New Zealand said.

Whether or not we choose to listen to it is up to us. Guys are encouraged to put their skills on display and are supported to do so in the supportive environment of the dressing room. Our issue arises if we let outside noise in,” McCullum said.

He said that England is now a more superior team.

“We’re a better team now than we were 18 months ago, but we still have some work to do and some areas to improve,” McCullum, 42, said.

It’s clear that we haven’t settled on the strategy completely yet. It’s a challenging method to play, therefore there will be moments when we fall short. It’s asking men to step up to the plate, and sometimes we have to accept defeat.

“Hopefully, we’ll keep packing houses, elevate the entertainment value of Test cricket, win more games, and establish ourselves as a team that fans truly want to watch.”

Additionally, McCullum gave struggling players Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow his full support for the next games.

“When they see a picture like that, people assume that Joe Root is having trouble adjusting to the new regime,” he remarked.

“His influence on the game is still enormously important. Given his skill and background, just think what may happen if Joe’s situation become the same. What is the ceiling, then? Which would we prefer: a standard Joe Root or one that is even better? How many games will we win if it occurs?

McCullum promised to make up ground in the series.

I’m looking forward to the following two. We’ll know our team is beginning to progress toward our goals if we can overcome this setback.

He said, “Too right, we can win the series.”