Ben Duckett, the opening player for England, has disclosed his strategies for dealing with the Indian spin trio of Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the series. In order to get rid of the men around the bat, the southpaw said he would be employing reverse sweep as a forward defence.
A five-match Test series between India and England will start on January 25 at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The match looks to be an exciting one, pitting India’s potent spin bowling attack against England’s most recent “Bazball” style of play in its hardest test yet.
“I might use my reverse sweep as a forward defence if it’s spinning sideways and they have men all around the bat, without trying to give too much away.” My belief is that you kind of get caught on the crease when you watch people get out when there’s a short leg, man around the corner, foolish point, and a slip.
I’m jinxing myself now because I know that I’m going to get caught at short leg, which is inevitable at this point. However, I’m going to try to get rid of those guys around in the hopes that things will become a little simpler. Ben Duckett stated on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, “If they stay in, hopefully you get a few more boundaries and a little score.”
Speaking before of time, the 29-year-old added that the side can sometimes benefit from a quickfire 50-run knock on rank turners.
Gaining 50 off 60, or whatever the situation may be, can occasionally be a valuable knock: Ben Duckett
“Even though they have a fantastic seam attack, there may be times when we have to try and take the seam down before the spin comes on if we feel like it’s going to be a bad pitch. Sometimes getting 50 off 60 or whatever that may be will be a valuable knock for the team,” he continued.
In his most recent Test series, the Ashes 2023, Duckett scored 2 half-centuries and totaled 321 runs from nine innings with a strike rate of 75.88 and an average of 35.66. In the forthcoming series against India, the opening batsman will once more try to ruin his team’s 12-year home unbeaten streak and deliver some explosive beginnings.