Former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan slammed Ben Duckett for trying to take the credit for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s attacking batting.
Ben Duckett’s comments on India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal have not gone down well with former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. Duckett, who smashed 153 off 151 balls in the third Test in Rajkot, said England’s Bazball style should deserve some credit for the way India opener Jaiswal batted in the second innings. Jaiswal, who took 80 balls to reach his half-century, accelerated a great deal to end up with an unbeaten 214 off 236 balls.
India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal being greeted by England’s Ben Duckett(PTI)
He hit 12 sixes in his whirlwind knock equalling the world record by former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram. Jaiswal’s blistering innings was one of the major reasons why India were able to give England a mammoth 557-run target, which proved way too much as the visitors were bowled out for 122. India won the match by 434 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
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“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” Duckett had said.
Hussain, Vaughan slam Duckett for trying to take credit for Jaiswal’s double hundred
Hussain, however, didn’t take a liking to the England left-hander’s comments. The former skipper said Jaiswal’s upbringing, his hard work and IPL are the reasons behind his success. “The comment on Jaiswal that he has learned from us, I am going to touch on that. He has not learned from you, he has learned from his upbringing and all the hard yards he has put in while growing up, he has learned from the IPL. If anything, I would look at him and learn from him,” Hussain told Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports podcast.
“So, whatever they are saying in public and in that dressing room, I hope they are going back into their room with self-introspection. I can look at that lad and learn from him. Otherwise, it becomes a cult, doesn’t it? At times, Bazball has been described as a cult where you cannot criticise either within or externally. Even in this regime, there is room for learning and improving,” he added.
Hussain was the only one not happy with England players’ indication. Vaughan, another former skipper said the remarks from English cricketers have an avoidable undertone to it.
“Listen to them, and you would think nothing is ever wrong. Jimmy Anderson said they would chase 600 in Vizag. Ben Duckett said “the more the better” in terms of their target this week, but they fell 434 short. Duckett also reckons they deserve credit for the way Yashasvi Jaiswal is batting, as if no player in history has ever played an attacking shot.
“They talk about not playing for the draw, but to me, that’s disrespectful to Test cricket. The draw is a crucial part of the game, and in five-Test contest has often provided the bedrock of some great series victories,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
