"Probably Ben Duckett hasn’t seen Rishabh Pant bat" : Rohit Sharma on England opener’s bizarre Bazball remark
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has responded to Ben Duckett’s comments about India’s youngsters being inspired by England’s Bazball philosophy in his inimitable witty manner. While sharing his thoughts on Duckett’s comments, Rohit quipped that the England cricketer perhaps hadn't seen Rishabh Pant bat.
While praising Yashasvi Jaiswal’s brilliant double hundred in the Rajkot Test, Ducket commented that England should be given some credit for the manner in which the Indian opener batted.
“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 was quoted as saying.
Responding to the England cricketer’s bizarre observation, Rohit said at a pre-match press conference ahead of the Dharamsala Test:
“I think there was this guy called Rishabh Pant in our team. [Pauses] Probably Ben Duckett hasn’t seen him play.”
Earlier, former England captain Nasser Hussai lashed out at Duckett over his comments on Jaiswal.
“So the comment on Jaiswal, he’s learned from us. Again, I’m going to touch on that. He’s not learned from you.
"He’s learned from, as I say, his upbringing and all the hard yards he had to put in growing up, and he’s learnt from IPL,” Hussain told Mike Atherton on Sky Sports Cricket.
Meanwhile, Rohit also went on to share his thoughts on Bazball and said that he doesn’t understand what it means.
“I just don’t know what Bazball means. I haven’t seen wild swinging from anyone. England have played better cricket than they were here last time. But I still don’t know what Bazball means,” Rohit added.
England won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs but lost the next three to concede the five-match series 3-1.
“There is a good chance to play extra seamer” - Rohit Sharma
Sharing his views on the Dharamsala pitch, Rohit said that the team's aim will be to win whether it’s a rank turner or not. However, he hinted that India might play an extra seamer in the fifth Test.
"Whether it's rank turner or any other pitch, intent is to win. Even on rank turners, advantages and disadvantages are for both teams,” he said.
“There is a good chance to play extra seamer. We have not yet completely decided on it, but there is a good chance," Rohit added.
The India-England match in Dharamshala will be the 100th Test for both Ravichandran Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow.