Decoding Brendon McCullum's Bazball phenomenon that has got the world talking

When Brendon McCullum was entrusted with the captaincy of the New Zealand side, he made the world take notice of his aggressive flair. His never-say-die attitude rubbed off on his teammates as he led New Zealand to the finals of a World Cup for the first time in 2015. As a coach, McCullum won Trinbago Knight Riders their fourth CPL title (2020) and helped Kolkata Knight Riders reach the IPL final (2021) after seven years.

When McCullum was assigned the role of England's red-ball coach, many wondered if giving him white-ball coaching would have been the better idea owing to his ultra-aggressive coaching style. However, McCullum gave his players the freedom to express themselves and helped Test cricket reinvent itself.

Under McCullum, net sessions became six-hitting contests. In 2022, they cleared the ropes 89 times, a record by a Test team in a calendar year. Who could forget the video from one of England's practice sessions where McCullum was showing how to hit sixes down the ground as Ben Stokes and Co. looked on.

One source puts it: 'He doesn't care about other people's judgments. It's about what he's doing. It's his life. Outside noises are irrelevant.'

Players were given the freedom to express themselves. From leaving balls outside the off stump under Chris Silverwood, the English side transformed into a team that had the audacity to play reverse scoops to pacers on green tracks.

The credit behind the reinvention cannot be bestowed on McCullum alone. Captain Ben Stokes also bought into the idea and together they managed to make the change. The duo identified the players they wanted as Bazball is not for everyone. They helped James Anderson and Stuart Broad get back to near-prime form after they were dropped for the series in the Caribbean in 2022 where Joe Root was the England captain for the last time.

In their 10 Tests under Stokes, Broad, and Anderson both have 45 wickets. Robinson has 27 in seven. Broad is averaging 25, Robinson 21, Anderson 17. Jack Leach also benefitted immensely from the backing he received from the Stokes-McCullum duo. In 2022, he took 46 Test wickets, the most by an England bowler.

In five innings against New Zealand and India, Bairstow plundered 589 off 578 balls, including four centuries and 13 sixes. He took to Bazball cricket like fish to water. How long can England find success with the Bazball ploy is something that will be keenly watched. However, there is no denying that it has given Test cricket a new lease of life, something that it needed after 146 years of existence.