‘The positive option is the only option’ - Kevin Pietersen talks Bazball ahead of England’s upcoming tour of India

Virgin Radio

24 Jan 2024, 09:17

Kevin Pietersen spoke to Chris Evans about being part of an all-star presenter line-up for talkSPORT’s ad-free commentary of the England men’s cricket tour of India.

The tour kicks off with England’s five-Test series against the host nation, starting tomorrow (25th January). Joining the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch, former England star Kevin said: “I think it's going to be really entertaining, because it's a great place to bat, and if the batters get the licence to slog the ball away, let them go and slog it away. 

“I think the point of difference is going to be our spinners to try and figure out and find out if they can bowl the Indians out, because they are wonderful players. They are fabulous players, especially in the home conditions. But that's not to say that this England team, with their new approach, can’t go and slog a few and get up on a couple of games.”

Speaking about Bazball - which refers to England’s bold attacking approach, named after coach Brendon McCullum (whose nickname is Baz) - Kevin told Chris: “He's coaching the way that he played. I've just been spending quite a bit of time with Stuart Broad in South Africa… and he was just telling me about the ethos of the dressing room and how free-spirited and free-natured that dressing room is. The positive option is the only option, there is no negative option at all. If a guy gets caught on the boundary, he says, ‘Why did you get caught on the boundary?’ instead of in the good old days, ‘Why did you play that shot?’ It’s like, ‘Why didn't you hit the ball further?’ So it's a complete 180 on the type of environments that I used to play in. And it's an absolute breath of fresh air. So I think we should applaud it. We should enjoy it.” 

He added: “Is it gonna work against the Indians in India? Yeah, I'm not so sure!”

During the conversation, the commentator said: “India don't lose at home. The last time they lost at home was to us in 2012. So it takes some gathering of efforts, some collective effort, to beat this Indian team. So I think it will be fascinating.”

The whole tour, including more than 200 hours of live, ad-free cricket coverage will be broadcast from 4am to midday on talkSPORT 2, with selected cricket available on talkSPORT. Multiple award-winning presenters across all the coverage including England legends Kevin Pietersen, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, Steve Harmison, Darren Gough, Alex Tudor and Gareth Batty.

When Chris asked whether it is better to be paid to play cricket or talk about cricket, Kevin - who played for England between 2005 and 2014 - replied: “Turning up now from South Africa and not having to worry about what the wicket looks like, not having to worry about conditions and not have to worry about spin bowlers, and not having to worry about anything else other than my breakfast at the moment and the 7000 coffees I'm gonna have, and no training days, and no team meetings, it's way better than being a player!”

India v England starts on 25th January, live on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.