A switch-hit shot so good from Ben Duckett that even the India captain Rohit Sharma was left impressed and speechless, and could only afford to give a smile.
Ben Duckett brought the best of Bazball against India on a good batting surface in Rajkot on Day 2 of the third Test and gave the hosts a mauling they have perhaps not received over the past decade at home.
India, the nearly indomitable force at home, was tamed by the diminutive England opener who brought up his century in 88 balls, and ended the day unbeaten on 133 in 118 balls.
He has smoked 21 fours and 2 sixes so far in his innings, the last maximum was a stunning, jaw-dropping switch-hit six off Ravindra Jadeja. It takes immense guts to reverse-sweep or switch-hit against Jadeja against the turn, who bowls at a quicker speed, on Indian pitches in Test cricket. But Ben Duckett, who now has the highest strike rate among the England batters in the Bazball era, was on a high and tremendous momentum.
A full length ball in the line was met by a switch-hitting Duckett who had changed his stance to a right-hander, got low and whacked the cherry on his original offside.
While Ravindra Jadeja was left shellshocked, India captain Rohit Sharma seemed impressed as he offered a smile. A wry smile, more so realizing that he was witnessing a special innings.
Watch: Rohit Sharma gives a smiling reaction to switch-hit six by Ben Duckett
That is a ridiculously good shot #indveng pic.twitter.com/2NctThy59n
— simon hughes (@theanalyst) February 16, 2024
Earlier in the day, Jadeja had failed to convert his century into a bigger score and was dismissed by Joe Root for 112. India were bowled out for 445 after some crucial runs from Ashwin and Jurel. However, England wiped 207 off those in only 35 overs, motoring along at a run rate of 5.91 as Duckett stroked a sublime unbeaten hundred.
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