LUCKNOW, Aug. 15 -- 'Bazball' in England refers to scoring quickly, taking the initiative, and playing with a fearless, positive attitude, even in traditionally defensive situations like Test cricket but for defending champions Meerut Mavericks, it's the best way to play cricket even in the shortest format of the game where this aggressive style of cricket is very much needed. This style will remain unchanged for the Rinku Singh-led side in the third season of the UPTwenty20 League, starting Sunday at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here. Head coach and former Ranji pacer Utkarsh Chandra is happy with the way his team bat and bowl in the lucrative event of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association. "That's the secret of our winning and I let my batters hit the very first ball of the match as that's what is required in this format. If you dominate early in the game, you will have less pressure in bowling while fielding second," said Utkarsh Chandra on Thursday after the team's second day training in the state capital. "Yes, I always say hit with the first ball. Play freely and even if we lose 1-2 wickets in the beginning, we can change the strategy. With the kind of batting line-up we have, I expect them to cross the 300 plus runs in a match this season. I want this target to be fixed as a new normal for the side," he added. "In the last one week, we were working on our strategy by playing matches at the Pathik stadium in Noida and the biggest positive was that everyone tried to give their best in the match situation," added Chandra, who last played his domestic match for Uttar Pradesh in 2007. In fact, this attacking approach of cricket helped Meerut Mavericks quite well as they finished runner-up in the first season in 2023 at Kanpur, before finishing top in the second season here in Lucknow after defeating one of the strongest sides Kanpur Superstars by five wickets in a thrilling final. "I try to be friendly with the boys. I never show that I am the coach and I try to mix with everyone and it helps us keep a good atmosphere in the team," he said, adding, "In fact, we trust our boys. We don't put any undue pressure on them.' Chandra also sounded happy to have Team India's T20 specialist batter Rinku Singh available for the entire season as the batter had missed the last few matches in the second season due to his commitment with Team India. "It's great to have Rinku for the entire season as he is a king of batter who can change the complexion of the game at any juncture. Rinku has a massive impact, he is a lefty batter who keeps rival bowlers struggling all the time." Certainly, Rinku has been a big plus for MM's batting strength as he scored 216 and 210 runs in 2023 and 2024 seasons respectively. Besides, on a number of occasions, he came up with some stunning batting to help the side win the encounter in a close finish. Also, MM's batting strength lies in its top batter Swastik Chikara, who has been outstanding and turned out to be the biggest fear factor for the rivals bowlers, scoring 494 and 499 runs in the first and second seasons respectively. He also scored a century in each season. Madhav Kaushik (350, 366 runs) and Rituraj Sharma (261, 174 runs) too have done well for the side. "Chikara is a very good batter. If he gets the going well, he is almost unstoppable for any side in the event," said Chandra who also praised MM's star bowler and second season's highest wicket taker Zeeshan Ansari. "Zeeshan is outstanding. Last year, his confidence was not so high, but after showing his mark at this year's Indian Premier League, he has now been doing outstanding bowling in the pre-season. It is remarkable. The confidence with which he is bowling, I am sure that he will do well this time too," he added. "Our expectations are high as we have four IPL players in the side. Youngsters like Hrithik Vats are expected to do well as our fresh faces in the side are also capable enough to handle any kind of pressure. They always play free-flowing cricket," Chandra said....