India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, has strongly refuted comments made by England batter Ben Duckett, who suggested that England’s “Bazball” approach had influenced Yashasvi Jaiswal’s aggressive batting style. Rohit’s response, delivered at a press conference on the eve of the fifth Test in Dharamsala, was a clear reminder of the impact of Rishabh Pant’s fearless batting.
“There was a guy called Rishabh Pant in our team, probably Ben Duckett hasn’t seen him play,” Rohit stated.
Jaiswal has emerged as India’s leading run-scorer in the series, amassing 655 runs in four matches at an impressive average of 94.57 and a strike rate of 78.63. Duckett’s comments, made after witnessing Jaiswal’s boundary-filled innings in the Rajkot Test, implied that England’s aggressive style had inspired the young Indian batter.
“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.
Rohit’s response was not the only criticism of Duckett’s remarks. Former England captain Nasser Hussain also condemned the player’s comments.
“He’s not learned from you. He’s learned 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 said on Sky Sports.
Rohit’s firm stance and Hussain’s criticism highlight the importance of acknowledging the individual talent and hard work of players, rather than attributing their success solely to external influences.
