KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Rashid Khan was asked by Michael Vaughan whether he would miss Bazball.

• The Afghanistan spinner initially said no before admitting he would.

• Brendon McCullum was sacked as England Test coach earlier this month.

Rashid Khan's one-word reaction to whether he will miss Bazball after Brendon McCullum's and Ben Stokes

The Bazball era in red-ball cricket is over. Brendon McCullum was removed as England's Test coach earlier this month after seven defeats in nine matches, while Ben Stokes, the captain who fronted the whole project, has retired from international cricket.

Four years of fearless batting, early declarations and impossible fourth-innings chases have ended without an Ashes or a World Test Championship final, leaving English cricket to work out how much of the approach it wants to keep.

The reaction has been split between those who saw a revolution and those who saw recklessness. Afghanistan spinner, Rashid Khan, who is currently in England for The Hundred, was put on the spot about it by Michael Vaughan and gave an answer that changed halfway through.

Rashid caught between two answers

Vaughan approached the Afghanistan spinner for a quick verdict, framing it as a straight choice with no room for nuance. "Rashid Khan is here. I've got to go and interview him. Alright Rash, how are you? Rash, will you miss Bazball? Just a quick yes or no," he said.

The initial response was blunt. "No," Rashid replied, before immediately laughing and reversing himself entirely. "Yes, I do, I do," he added.

Vaughan, one of Bazball's most persistent critics during England's decline, seized on the correction. "Yeah, you love it really, right?" the former England captain said.

Rashid did not hold back once he had settled on his answer. "I love it, I love it. It's more like a T20 of long format," he said, offering as neat a summary of the approach as anyone has managed in four years.

The verdict that sums up Bazball's legacy

Rashid's description is more revealing than it first appears. Treating Test cricket like a T20 innings was exactly what made England compelling to watch and exactly what undid them against high-quality attacks in hostile conditions.

That tension explains why his answer flipped. The entertainment value was undeniable, and players from other countries clearly enjoyed watching it, but England's own record tells a harsher story of an Ashes hammering and a home defeat to New Zealand.

McCullum, for his part, remains in charge of the white-ball sides, where the philosophy fits far more naturally. England swept India 4-0 in the T20Is and climbed to No. 1 in the rankings, which rather proves Rashid's point about which format the approach truly belonged in.