Michael Clarke echoes Nasser Hussain’s views while calling out Ben Duckett

England opener Ben Duckett has been receiving backlash for his views on BazBall cricket. The left-handed batter was slammed by Nasser Hussain for his views on Indian batter Yashasvi Jaiswal. 

Advertisment

During the third Test in Rajkot, Duckett had made a few interesting points. One of them was about how India was adopting the same approach that England had been using. This didn’t sit down well with former Australia skipper Michael Clarke. 

The 42-year-old sat down with ESPN for a show called Australia’s Around the Wicket. Michael Clarke called out Ben Duckett and said that England’s BazBall isn’t a new ploy but something that has been done before. 

Michael Clarke replies to Ben Duckett’s comments – 

Advertisment

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke while speaking to the ESPN show said, “He must have missed Australia for 20 years. As a young, he must know what Test cricket Australia played." This was a clear aim at England batter Ben Duckett over his recent comments. 

As the chat went ahead Michael Clarke named a few former Aussie batters who batted freely. During the late 1990s and for the next two decades, Australia was a feared side under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. The team was known to have aggressive batters who could change the game and bat the opposition out of the game. 

“Has he heard about Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist? These guys used to smack it as good as anyone." Clarke also took a massive swiper at  Ben Duckett for his views on Test cricket as he took a huge jibe at the English batter. 

Advertisment

“Just because you play a reverse sweep or switch hit or a ramp shot, that doesn’t mean that you are batting aggressively either. Matthew Hayden just walked down the wicket and hit you over your head for a six. He didn’t have to play a ramp or a switch hit,” Clarke said. 

The 2015 World Cup winner also 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 aggressively or bat positively”

The fourth Test match between India and England is set to begin this Friday in Ranchi. KL Rahul has been ruled out as he still isn’t fit. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the game to manage his workload. Mukesh Kumar is back with the team as he looks to make a fresh claim to play yet another Test match.