Who said what - top 3 reactions to Ben Duckett's remark on Yashasvi Jaiswal ft. Nasser Hussain
England opener Ben Duckett, who scored a swashbuckling century in the third Test against India in Rajkot last week, flirted with controversy with a comment on Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Duckett, whose ton was also the fastest by an Englishman against India, saw Yashasvi Jaiswal score a double century in the second innings. The English opener cheekily mentioned that India should give England a bit of credit for inspiring them to play aggressively.
"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 told reporters.
However, Ben Duckett's comment did not go down well with a lot of people, the majority of his countrymen included. They criticised him for being tone deaf to the fact that people had played aggressively in Tests much before Bazball arrived on the scene.
In this listicle, we bring to you three such reactions from experts across the globe.
#1 Nasser Hussain
Former England captain Nasser Hussain was one of the strongest critics of Ben Duckett when the latter said that Yashasvi Jaiswal should give some credit to England for adopting an aggressive brand of cricket.
Speaking to SkySports Cricket, Hussain mentioned that there should be some introspection done by the English team after the massive margin by which they lost the Test.
“He (Jaiswal) has not learnt from you (Duckett). 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," said Hussain.
"Otherwise, it becomes a cult, and at times Bazball and this regime has been described as such, where you cannot criticise within or externally,” he added.
#2 Michael Vaughan
Another former England captain, Michael Vaughan, criticised Ben Duckett for claiming that England should be given credit for Jaiswal's belligerent knock.
Vaughan also harped in on the fact that the Bazball regime has maintained that almost nothing is ever wrong. When writing in his column for The Telegraph, the Yorkshireman said he did not like the tall claims made by the English players.
“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," wrote Vaughan.
"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 contests has often provided the bedrock of some great series victories,",” he added.
#3 Michael Clarke
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke was not amused at all when he got to know about the comment that Ben Duckett had made about Yashasvi Jaiswal's knock.
Speaking to ESPN Around The Wicket, Clarke felt that Duckett was being immature in mentioning such a thing given that there had been a lot of teams and players who had played aggressively in Test cricket before England did.
"He (Duckett) must have missed Australia by 20 years then. Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist - these guys used to smack the ball as good as anyone," said Clarke.
"And just because you are playing the reverse sweep, or switch hit or ramp shot, it does not mean that you are playing aggressively. Matthew Hayden used to come down the track and hit it over your head for six. He didn't have to play the scoop or the switch hit," he added.