Pakistan not afraid of England’s ‘Bazball’ ahead of Test series: Gillespie

Pakistan’s Test team coach says his side are ready to turn the tide and challenge England in hot conditions.

A little over a month after their historic first Test cricket series loss against Bangladesh, Pakistan are set to host a traditionally tougher opponent, England, in a three-match cricket home series from Monday.

The last time England toured Pakistan in 2022, they returned with a 3-0 whitewash in the bag and with the so-called Bazball era – originating from the type of attacking cricket they play under coach Brendon McCullum – on the rise.

While the English team continues its bold new voyage, Pakistan cricket finds itself under familiar clouds of gloom and doom after a string of abysmal results and a change of leadership.

Former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie has been tasked with changing the fortunes of Pakistan’s Test side as its head coach, but a  2-0 home series defeat against Bangladesh dashed hopes of an immediate reversal in fortunes.

Calls came for yet another change of captaincy and Shan Masood was heavily criticised. Gillespie, however, has fully backed the skipper and, in the first part of his exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, said that consistency in selection is the key to rebuilding the Test side.

The brute force of England, who sit five places above Pakistan in the Test team rankings of the International Cricket Council (ICC), may dent the Pakistan fans’ hopes further.

However, Gillespie has no fear of the English approach and believes a traditional Test cricket approach will be the perfect antidote to McCullum’s Bazball.

“We know how England bat,” Gillespie told Al Jazeera in the lead-up to the series. “We know they are going to go pretty hard with the bat and they are probably going to