During the third Test against India in Rajkot, England opener Ben Duckett made a bizarre statement, saying that their aggressive approach, also known as Bazball, deserves some credit for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s explosive hundred (214* off 236 balls).
Duckett suggested that England’s aggression with the bat has forced their opponents to play differently in the longest format.
However, Duckett’s claim did not go down well in the cricketing fraternity as he faced severe backlash from the fans and experts alike, including former England captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain.
Ex-Australia skipper Michael Clarke also joined the bandwagon and slammed Ben Duckett’s weird theory.
Clarke reminded Duckett of some of Australia's legendary cricketers like Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, saying that the aggressive style of Test cricket was played way before the arrival of Bazball concept.
“He must have missed Australia for 20 years. As a youngster, he must not know what Test cricket Australia played. Has he heard of Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist? These guys used to smack it as good as everyone,” Clarke said while speaking on ESPN Australia’s Around The Wicket.
“Because you play a reverse sweep or a switch hit or a ramp shot, that doesn’t mean you are batting aggressively either. Matthew Hayden just walked down the wicket and hit you straight over your head for a six. He didn’t have to play a ramp or a switch hit," he added.
After England’s humiliating 434-run defeat in the Rajkot, the Bazball approach came under the scanner. While Clarke praised Ben Stokes and his men for sticking to their aggressive style, he reiterated that they aren't the first team to play Test cricket in this fashion.
“I love the aggressive approach of England. I think it has worked, they are building a really good foundation to play great cricket. They are getting the results they want, they did it in this Test [Rajkot]. Playing in India is tough: you can sit there and block, you gonna get one with your name on it. You might try a reverse sweep and you might hit it straight to backward point. It’s just the way the game goes," he said.
“I think people need to be realistic and understand, as a batsman, your job is to score runs and there have been plenty of great players and plenty of teams around the world score plenty of runs against good opposition. England is not the first team to play aggressive or bat positively.”
England are trailing 2-1 in the five-match Test series. The fourth Test is slated to be held in Ranchi from February 23.
