England pulled off a stunning win over Australia in the fifth and final game of the Ashes 2023 at the Oval. It helped the hosts level the series at 2-2. It was also the last game for Stuart Broad, who picked up the last Australian wicket to take his team to victory.
On the other hand, veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali also announced his test retirement who came out of it for the Ashes 2023 on the request of skipper Ben Stokes. England were down and out in the first two games and were 0-2 behind. But they won the third game at Headingley.
Meanwhile, the fourth match in Manchester ended in an unfortunate draw. The hosts were truly ahead in the game and missed an opportunity. But they backed it up with another good performance in the final test to level the series. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have led England incredible well, and they are one of the top test sides now.
England has carried on their “Bazball” approach and hasn’t lost any series under Stokes and McCullum. Even after losing the first two games, England didn’t go defensive and kept their aggressive approach, which resulted in wins for them.
With this new approach, England has prevailed against New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Australia. They also beat India in a one-off rescheduled test in Edgbaston last year. But the real test for England will be to perform in India, where the pitches are rank turners.
Ben Stokes on whether Bazball will work in India or not. pic.twitter.com/5QN26ThhSK
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 1, 2023
In the post-match presentation after the final test, Stokes was asked, “Can BazBall work in India?” To which he replied, “I remember when we beat New Zealand 3-0, (the chatter) was we couldn’t do it against South Africa, (we) couldn’t do it against Pakistan, (we) couldn’t do it against Australia. So who knows if we can do it against India, only time will tell.”
England will tour India in January-March 2024 for a five-match Test series. That series will be very important in the context of the ongoing World Test Championship for both teams. But more than that, it will be a clash between India, who have been undefeated for a long time at home, and England, who are winning everything with their new approach.
