Some say Bazzball, I just think it’s smart cricket: AB de Villiers

Former South Africa skipper, AB de Villiers, lauded England for their new philosophy in Test cricket. After the appointment of Ben Stokes as the captain and Brendon McCullum as the head coach of the Test side, the Three Lions revolutionized the longest format of the game, winning against teams like South Africa, India, Pakistan and New Zealand. Meanwhile, in the first Ashes Test of the summer, the team was bold enough to declare on 393 runs and that eventually impressed de Villiers a lot.

Analysing this new brand of cricket, the 39-year-old stated that it’s smart cricket and the way England bats, it makes a lot of sense. He added that the team is only focused on winning and thus, players are taking a lot more risk and the skipper too isn’t afraid of taking any bold decisions.

I never looked at the Birmingham weather leading up to this Test match. The way England played now makes sense. Call it what you want, some say Bazz Ball, I just think it’s smart Cricket. The best teams are prepared to adapt and play situations in a way that’ll ultimately put…

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) June 20, 2023

“I never looked at the Birmingham weather leading up to this Test match. The way England played now makes sense. Call it what you want, some say Bazz Ball, I just think it’s smart Cricket. The best teams are prepared to adapt and play situations in a way that’ll ultimately put them in a winning position more often than the rest, whether that’s by making bold declarations or playing reverse sweeps a lot, whatever it takes,” the former cricketer tweeted on Tuesday.

De Villiers compares England to MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings of IPL

Furthermore, AB de Villiers explained that a great team is filled with players with no egos and players who are not stats driven. He believes that Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League is one such team and thus, compared the Ben Stokes-led side with the five-time IPL winners.

“The only way to make it impactful is to have a complete buy in from every individual, no egos, no stats driven players, just a full on buy in to be the best team in the world. That’s how I see the Eng team play atm (at the moment). Also saw that with MSD and co. in the IPL,” de Villiers concluded.