Nasser Hussain, the ex-captain of the England cricket team, has strongly reacted to Ben Duckett's remarks about the aggressive batting of Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Duckett claimed that Jaiswal's aggressive cricket style was influenced by England's widely debated Bazball approach in its most traditional form.
Jaiswal's aggressive style of play has resulted in him scoring a large number of runs in the three Tests of the ongoing five-match series between India and England. Despite this, Duckett has commented that England should be given some credit for Jaiswal's decision to play an attacking form of cricket in Tests. The 29-year-old English batsman has received a lot of criticism for his statement.
Discussing Jaiswal's performance following the third day's play, Duckett expressed, "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."
The former England captain Hussain criticized Duckett for his comments about 'Bazball', and advised England players to engage in self-reflection regarding their support for the sport.
"He's not learnt from you. He's learnt 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 told Sky Sports.
Jaiswal is leading the series in runs, having scored 545 in six innings at an impressive average of 109. The left-handed batsman achieved back-to-back double-centuries in Tests and concluded with an unbeaten 214 in Rajkot.
Hussain praised England's optimism but criticized their lack of realism in pursuing lofty goals.
"When you're living in an environment in a bubble that has got so much good messaging and positive vibes, you go into a press conference and you're never going to step back and go, 'they may have got too many and we're just going to play for a draw'. I enjoy their positivity but there has to be a little bit of realism in there as well. Obviously, chasing 600 in India batting last is not a particularly good option to look," he added.
India, leading 2-1 in the five-match Test series, will take on England in the fourth match at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi starting from Friday.
