London: Former captain Nasser Hussain has lashed out at Ben Duckett for suggesting that Yashasvi Jaiswal’s aggressive batting in the Rajkot Test was influenced by England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy, saying it is the visitors who need to learn from the young Indian sensation.
At the end of the third day’s play in Rajkot, Duckett had praised Jaiswal for his attacking century and suggested that the current England team should receive credit for influencing teams to bat more aggressively in Tests.
England eventually went on to lose the match by a record margin of 434 runs to concede a 1-2 lead to India in the five-match series.
Reacting to Duckett’s remark, Hussain said, “His (Duckett’s) comment on Jaiswal that he has learned from us, I am going to touch on that. He (Jaiswal) has not learned from you (Duckett), he has learned from his upbringing and all the hard yards he has put in while growing up, he has learned from the IPL.
“If anything, I would look at him and learn from him,” Hussain said during a discussion with another former England captain Michael Atherton on Sky Sports.
Hussain urged the England players to do some self-introspection and make necessary adjustments ahead of the fourth Test in Ranchi.
“Whatever they are saying in public and in that dressing room, I hope they are going back to their rooms, do a little bit of self-introspection game, like ‘I can look back and learn and make improvement’.
“Otherwise, it becomes a cult, doesn’t it? At times, Bazball in this regime has been described as a cult where you cannot criticise either within or externally. Even in this regime, there is room for learning and improving,” Hussain said.
“I can go back to the Ashes series, and I reckon they (England) changed (strategy).”
