The start of his Test career was neither smooth nor sweet, but the left-handed opening batter of England, Ben Duckett, has shaped himself differently under the Bazball dilemma of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. The Kent-born has looked in a different touch under the aggressive version of his batting, and he has continued to do so in the ongoing Pakistan trip.
In the opening game of the three-match Test series at the Multan International Stadium, a finger injury on the last ball of the first innings dropped down Ben Duckett at number four in the batting order. But he didn’t let go of the aggressive version of his batting and smacked 84 runs in 75 balls with the help of 11 boundaries.
The second Test was played on the same track, and when other England batters were finding it tough to score runs on the seventh-day-old track, the opener kept on drilling the boundaries with ease and celebrated 114 runs in 129 balls, shouldering on 16 boundaries.
The fearless batting approach and counter-attacking stroke were the highlight of the second day of the game on a pitch that later crumbled to destroy the batting line-up of the visiting side.
Ben Duckett overtakes former New Zealand captain to record fastest 2000 Test run
The 30-year-old now has become the fastest to complete 2000 Test runs in the longest format of the game in terms of deliveries being taken, as he has now achieved the feat in 2293 balls, piping him over the former New Zealand captain and present all-rounder, Tim Southee, who was at the top of the tally in 2418 balls.
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Ben Duckett earned the feat in his 51 innings, which is well below to the fastest in terms of innings. The greatest of the game, Sir Donald Brandman, still holds the record of the fastest 2000 Test runs in just 22 innings, following his Headley of West Indies.
The batter is now at the top of the tally regarding the number of balls being faced to score the fastest 2000 runs in Tests. Adam Gilchrist, the former wicket-keeper batter of the Australian side, is at number three in the list with 2483 balls, followed by Virender Sehwag, the Indian opener with 2759 balls.
At the end of his dismissal, the rest of the England batting line-up fell like a pack of cards. At one point, they were 211/2 and later were bundled out for 291 runs in the innings, with nearly 50% of those runs coming off the blade of Ben Duckett, who pointed out the positive approach to putting the bowlers under pressure.
“Batting against spin, I like to think it’s a strength of mine. Batting against the new ball here can be a fraction easier at times. Obviously back opening with Zak was nice. (On his sweep shots) It’s a strength I like to go to.” The left-handed opening batter was expressed at the end of the second day.
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“When you first walk out to bat, there’s a lot of men around the bat, my theory is to try and get rid of them and look to put the bowler under pressure as well. I didn’t hit all of them, but tried to get the field out and tried to make life easier for myself.” Ben Duckett highlighted.
He also hopes that the home side struggles in their second innings with the bat, making it easier for them to chase in the fourth innings of the Test on an eighth or ninth-day track.
