NEW DELHI: Ahead of the forthcoming five-Test series in India, former captain Michael Vaughan has warned England that their Bazball strategy might be "absolutely destroyed" by the hosts' deadly spin attack.
With the squad winning 13 of the last 18 red-ball matches, England's aggressive style, known as Bazball after their head coach Brendon McCullum, has generated a lot of talk in the cricketing world over the past 18 months.
However, Vaughan claimed the approach might not be effective in India, citing England's difficulties against Australian spinner Nathan Lyon during the Ashes series.
"Ultimately the hardest place to play in the world is India and if you actually go back to the Ashes when Nathan Lyon was fit and bowling nicely, Australia were 2-0 up in the series," Vaughan told foxsports.com.au.
"That was just one innings and a few overs in the first innings at Lords… Nathan came out with a lovely line the other week where he said he's 2-nil up against Bazball.
"Now that's just one spinner, if you look at that five-for he got at Edgbaston and the field was spread and England got out to him by playing ridiculous shots at times."
As part of their ICC World Test Championships cycle, England will play five Tests in India, beginning in Hyderabad on January 25.
"If you add in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel on spinning wickets in India, they may get blown away, they may get absolutely destroyed.
"They will go out and play exactly the same way, we've already spoken about the impact they are going to try and achieve in India with the way they play.
1/8:Shoaib Bashir among uncapped trio in England Test squad for India tour
2/8:Four specialist spinners in England squad
<p>England on Monday named four specialist spinners, including the uncapped duo of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, in the 16-member squad for next month's five-Test series in India.<br /></p>
3/8:20-year-old Bashir plays for Somerset
<p>The 20-year-old Bashir, who plays for Somerset, has snapped 10 wickets in his six-match first-class career that began in June this year. Off-spinners Bashir and Hartley were both part of the England Lions squad that trained in the United Arab Emirates last month.<br /></p>
4/8:Leach returns after recovering from back injury
<p>The other two specialist spinners in the squad are Jack Leach, who has recovered from his back injury, and teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed. Ahmed returns to the Test squad after claiming a five-wicket haul on his Test debut in Pakistan last December. <br /></p>Getty Images
5/8:Maiden Test call for pacer Atkinson
<p>Surrey quick Gus Atkinson, who claimed 20 wickets in five County Championship matches last summer at an average of 20.20 helping Surrey claim back-to-back titles, has also earned his maiden Test call.<br /></p>
6/8:Stokes to lead England against India
<p>England skipper Ben Stokes, who underwent knee surgery after the World Cup, is also named in the squad but it is to be seen if the all-rounder resumes bowling duties. (Getty Images)<br /></p>Getty Images
7/8:England also recall wicketkeeper-batter Foakes
<p>Wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes, who didn't figure in the Ashes squad, has also been recalled.<br /></p>Getty Images
8/8:Veteran Anderson to lead England pace attack
<p>Veteran James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Atkinson and Mark Wood are the four frontline seamers in the squad. The five-Test series is slated to begin in Hyderabad on January 25. <br /></p>Getty Images"It will be great watching, but you will have to fancy three quality spinners might do a job on England when one quality spinner in Nathan Lyon did the job in English conditions. It's going to be very tough for them to win in India."
Four specialist spinners, including Jack Leach, the teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, and the uncapped pair of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, were named by England on Monday as part of their 16-man squad for the Test series against India.
Following Hyderabad, the remaining four Test matches for England will be held in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala.
(With PTI inputs)
