England's Ben Duckett celebrates after reaching his century on the second day of the third Test against India in Rajkot on Friday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: It’s become convenient to designate any innings of substance and aggression from an English batter to ‘Bazball’.
Peeling away from easy narratives, what Ben Duckett did on Friday was what he was always destined to do.
Sure, he was injected into the new era of England cricket five or so years ago because he had showcased a free spirit about him in a decade-long first-class career, but that didn’t necessarily mean he could/ would adapt to the big stage.
His career so far has been middling, and he has been quite unimpressive on his second trip to India.
The Kent man altered that portrayal by scything through India’s bowlers on the second day of the third Test in Rajkot in bringing up a counterattacking century of such calibre and innovation that India were left to wonder if their first-innings tally of 445 was good enough.
England reached 207 for 2 wickets in 35 overs at a rate of 5.91 runs an over. Duckett remained unconquered on 133 from 118 balls and Joe Root was unbeaten on 9.
That innings was fast, furious, but it was not ‘Bazball’. Duckett was dancing to his own tune. Literally.
The left-hander, who made his debut at this venue in 2016, eased into this genial pitch in no time and opened up before the Indians could switch up strategies.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were played by keeping his hands tucked in after a period of pushing away from his body. It had become his mode of dismissal so he took it away, relying on shoulders and arms more than usual.
It was a matter of time before India’s spinners were going to come on, and skipper Rohit Sharma reckoned it a good idea to start with Kuldeep Yadav. That didn’t work. Not at all.
Duckett swept, reverse swept, drove and cut Kuldeep after having established the field in his mind to get the most value for each stroke. The left-arm wrist spinner was yanked about for 42 runs from 7 overs before Rohit had had enough.
Duckett had reached 50 from 39 balls by this point so it’s fairly easy to assume that he was in the zone. The arrival of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja barely had an impact on him.
There was some defending going on, but for the most part, he was on the attack. The trick, however, was that he picked the length and line so early that he could get into the right positions and place it in the right regions.
Although he slowed down after getting into his late nineties, the 29-year-old drove Bumrah down past mid-on in the 26th over to bring up his third Test century from 88 deliveries.
India did find some success with a couple of wickets, including one which took Ashwin to 500 Test scalps, but Duckett’s desire to hit the ones that deserved to be hit, kept them on edge.
Perhaps it even made them want to set fields and change up the bowling combination against what they would have organically wanted to do.
That aspect of going on the offensive to instigate errors is the premise of ‘Bazball’. Granted.
Duckett, however, wasn’t about that on the day. He played the field, played the bowler, played the ball and played the situation. That’s just quality batting against a quality unit of bowlers.
Lest we forget, eight English batters have scored faster tons than Duckett, and three of them were not from the ‘Bazball’ era. They were just good batters capitalising on a good day and a good pitch. That’s what Duckett did.
Sure, the spinners were a bit fidgety, tight and caught in a loop of concern, but they were not so bad that India should have had to walk the day off with their tail between their legs. It’s not what they would have expected having added 119 runs to their overnight tally.