Rajkot (Gujarat) [India] : Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has responded emphatically to Ben Duckett’s comments on India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s aggressive batting.
Duckett asserted that Jaiswal played an aggressive style of cricket as a result of England’s much-discussed Bazball approach in the game’s purest form.
Jaiswal’s attacking approach has yielded runs in tons for him across the three Tests played so far in the five-match series between India and England.
However, Duckett remarked that England deserve “some credit” for the way Jaiswal has adopted an attacking brand of cricket in Tests. The 29-year-old England batter has faced plenty of backlash for the comment.
Speaking about Jaiswal’s effort after the third day’s play, Duckett stated, “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.”
The opening batsman’s opinion did not sit well with ex-England captain Hussain, who chastised Duckett for his statements and urged England players to “self-reflect” when it comes to supporting ‘Bazball’.
“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 criticise within or externally,” Hussain told Sky Sports.
Jaiswal has scored the most runs in the series so far, with 545 in six innings at an average of 109. The left-hander scored double-centuries in consecutive Tests and finished unbeaten on 214 in Rajkot.
Hussain said that England’s optimism is admirable, but he bemoaned a lack of realism considering their lofty aspirations.
“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,” he added.
With a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series, India will face England in the fourth game at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from Friday.
