England’s Bazball Rejected By Former Indian Batter After Champions Trophy 2025 Fiasco

The former Indian batter, Mohammad Kaif, has criticized England’s aggressive batting, Bazball, across formats after their exit from the Champions Trophy 2025. Jos Butler’s army fails to earn a single victory in the entire event in the three group-stage clashes as their final encounter against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

England has batted 11 times in the white-ball formats in the calendar year and has been bowled out on 10 occasions, bar one when they found themselves nine down in the contest. That shows how fragile and inconsistent their batting has been in the entire competition.

England fails to win a single game in the Champions Trophy 2025

The opening game for the side in the eight-team tournament displayed the crazy power-hitting at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore against Australia when they were out on 351/8 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to the 165-run knock from the southpaw, Ben Duckett, and the 68 runs from Joe Root.

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But their lower middle order failed to give them the firing end in the innings, and looking at the conditions, the Steve Smith-led side favored their chances, even after losing two early wickets in the chase. The 95-run stand for the third wicket offered them the winning platform, while the 146-run partnership for the fifth wicket carried them so near to the victory line.

Josh Inglish clubbed a fine unbeaten knock of 120 runs in 86 deliveries at a strike rate of nearly 140, shouldering on eight boundaries and six sixes. Their poor performance continued even in the second fixture against Afghanistan when Ibrahim Zadran drilled 177 runs in 146 balls.

Root’s 120 runs in 111 balls kept England in the chase, but they again lacked firepower in the middle and fell short of the goal by eight runs. It was bizarre how they failed to chase 100 runs in 13 overs, even with five wickets in hand.

The seven-wicket defeat against the Proteas in the last group-stage game was just an image of where they stand in the ODIs. On a batting-friendly surface, South Africa packed the 2019 ODI Champions for 179 before chasing the total down with seven wickets in hand and more than 20 overs to spare.

Mohammad Kaif teaches England to follow Joe Root for this reason

The former Indian batter, Mohammad Kaif, has eliminated the Bazball theory across formats. He highlighted that the same style won’t work across formats as the successful teams would need to adjust to the conditions.

“England's early exit once again proves 'one nation, one style' doesn't work. You can't blindly follow Bazball across formats. Successful teams win as they adjust to conditions. Follow Joe Root, not Bazball.” Kaif shed light on this during a social media post on X.

England's early exit once again proves 'one nation, one style' doesn't work. You can't blindly follow Bazball across formats. Successful teams win as they adjust to conditions. Follow Joe Root, not Bazball.

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 1, 2025

Root has shown how to deal with these conditions, and his incredible 120 runs in 111 balls was a prime example of how to keep the strike rate to nearly 110, even after taking minimal risk.

England looks for a new captain after Jos Butler’s resignation

On the eve of the final group-stage game of the Champions Trophy, Butler, coming to the presser, confirmed that he won’t be leading the side in the white-ball format anymore.

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That leaves Rob Key, Brendon McCullum, and the selectors a couple of months before the home series against the West Indies to decide who could be the next successor. Harry Brook, undoubtedly, is the front-runner in the department, but the question remains whether the committee will move toward someone experienced from the domestic circuit.

England’s next ICC event will be the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, but they will have just six months under the new leader before the tournament.