Post the defeats versus India at Vizag and now a massive thumping of 434 runs at Rajkot, England players like James Anderson , Ben Duckett etc. has gone over board with their statements in the post match press conferences. While James Anderson claimed that England can chase more than 600 runs in Vizag, his teammate Ben Duckett post 434 runs drubbing over them went a step ahead to credit his innings of 153 as an inspiration for Yashaswi Jaiswal to score a mammoth 214*
These statements are proving to be laughing stocks and memes materials on the twitter as none of them had their bases covered and it showed that the English players were mentally affected with the 2 defeats they received against India after leading the series 1-0 at Hyderabad after 1st test.
Ben Duckett’s rise to English ranks
Six years prior to his recall to the Test side for last winter’s tour of Pakistan, Duckett had thought all this was beyond him. In 2018 he had undergone a pre-season hand operation, but a foolish return for Northamptonshire – four weeks ahead of schedule – almost irreparably changed his batting grip. That was eventually remedied in the 2020-21 winter with the help of his Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores and assistant Ant Botha. By then, he assumed he had fallen out of the England loop.
A penchant for a good time earned him a reputation as unprofessional, especially after a couple of notable missteps during the 2017-18 Ashes. As a member of the Lions tour that ran parallel to the main event, he missed a tour match for pouring a drink over James Anderson and accidentally threw up on Trevor Bayliss when hungover on a plane. It was far from ideal (though in his defense, he didn’t start the former incident) but it seemed his card had been marked permanently for mistakes that most 23-year-old are guilty of making.
What we have seen over the last 15 months, and especially on the second day in Rajkot, is not simply maturity but a player who has grown while retaining his youthful flair. It is a hell of a combination, and one that does not happen – or can be maintained – by accident.
The ability to keep striking boundaries across 35 overs after spending 130.5 in the dirt, during which he often conversed with Stokes on tactics, was a remarkable blend of attacking zeal and aerobic fitness. As of now, Duckett has been on the field for every moment of the first two days of this Test.
Ben Duckett – A tale of 2 innings at Rajkot
Opener Ben Duckett smashed an 88-ball hundred to lead England’s robust reply to India’s first innings total of 445 on day two of the third Test in Rajkot on Friday. Ben Duckett’s 133 not out off 118 balls, which contained two sixes and 21 fours, powered England to 207-2 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. He returned on second day only to add 20 more runs before latching a simple catch to Kuldeep Yadav to Shubman Gill on 153 as England collapsed to 319 runs granting India a valuable 126 runs lead in the 1st innings.
India on the back of magnificent 214* from Yashaswi Jaiswal scored mammoth 430 for 4 in the second innings to set England a target of 557 runs to win the test and the onus of the pursuit of this target was on in form opener Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley to assert early pressure on the Indian bowlers with their attacking approach.
However they succumbed under pressure and played 2 maiden overs at the start which gave an indication that Indians are starting to assert pressure on English batters. To worsen the case with the team score on 15 in the 6th over Ben Duckett who struggled to find any runs got run out bizarrely going for the non existent single only to be sent back by Crawley but falling short of crease as an excellent throw from Mohammad Siraj to diving Dhruv Jurel saw Duckett’s bails coming of who scored mere 4 runs of 15 balls.
The dismissal triggered England’s downfall as India bundled them for mere 122 runs to record mammoth 434 runs win and lead the series 2-1.
Ben Duckett post 434 runs drubbing over them went a step ahead in the post match press conference to credit his innings of 153 as an inspiration for Yashaswi Jaiswal to score a mammoth 214*. This statement irked the likes of Former English cricketer Nasser Hussain who rightly slammed the batter for doing so.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has not learnt from you- Nasser Hussain angry on Ben Duckett
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has given an emphatic reply to Ben Duckett’s comments over Yashaswi Jaiswal’s aggressive batting. The 55-year-old was hopeful that England would be introspecting after their heavy 434-run loss to India in the 3rd Test in Rajkot.
After Jaiswal’s blistering ton on day 3 of the Rajkot Test, his English counterpart Duckett commented that they deserve some credit for inspiring players to play aggressively. However, the 29-year-old opening batter faced plenty of backlash for the comment.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain said that it’s Jaiswal’s foundation that has kept him in good stead and that he inspires others.
“He’s not learnt from you. He’s learnt from his upbringing, all the hard yards he had to put in growing up. If anything, lads, look at him and learn from him. I hope there’s a little bit of self-introspection going on. Otherwise it becomes a cult – and, at times, Bazball and this regime has been described as such, where you cannot criticize within or externally,”
Jaiswal has been the highest run-getter in the series so far, aggregating 545 runs in six innings at an average of 109. The left-hander has also struck double-centuries in consecutive Tests and stayed unbeaten on 214 in Rajkot to leave England chasing 557.
There has to be a little bit of realism – Nasser Hussain post Ben Duckett’s statement
Hussain added that England’s positivity is quite refreshing, but he lamented the lack of realism, given their tall claims. He added:
“When you’re living in an environment in a bubble that has got so much good messaging and positive vibes, you go into a press conference and you’re never going to step back and go, ‘they may have got too many and we’re just going to play for a draw’. I enjoy their positivity but there has to be a little bit of realism in there as well. Obviously, chasing 600 in India batting last is not a particularly good option to look,”
The 4th Test between India and England begins on February 23 in Ranchi and the English team who is now lagging 2-1 in the series should be more concentrated on on field performances rather than giving bizarre statements to the media as one loss from here means England is going back empty handed once again from Indian shores.