IND vs ENG: That could be a match-winning knock if pitch keeps getting harder to bat, says Duckett on Stokes half century

“I think we’re over par. It was a tricky day one pitch. Consistent spin from earlier on. And, Stokes (England captain Ben Stokes) was fantastic,” said England opener Ben Duckett after the first day of the first Test against India.

England skipper Ben Stokes in action. | Photo Credit: KVS Giri/The Hindu

“I think we’re over par. It was a tricky day one pitch. Consistent spin from earlier on. And, Stokes (England captain Ben Stokes) was fantastic,” said England opener Ben Duckett.

“ That could be a match-winning knock if the pitch keeps getting harder to bat on on day 3 and 4,” Duckett informed media after the first day’s play in the first Test match against India here on Thursday.

“We were very attacking which is positive you know that. We’re always trying to be positive by staying out here when you get an opportunity to have a bit of pace on the ball, we’re going to go even harder and they bowled some very nice lines and I reckon I probably could have nicked off about 15 times and missed them and then put the bat ball away so Yeah, real very happy with how we started it,” he explained.

On left-arm spinner Tom Hartley’s debut, Duckett said they backed the debutant. “He nearly got Shubman in the end and not quite sure how that’s gonna miss the stumps. But, I thought he came back really well and in between an athlete and it paid him off,” he said.

“I feel like we weren’t reckless today. I thought we played well at times and people dug in and normally striking at 150 we you know, we dug in and rotated pretty well,” Duckett said.

“And, in between that you come in again, we get three very new spinners were ones racking sideways and one isn’t spinning. So, I thought it was tricky. And I think generally, I’ll probably find out about about a debrief now I think we were pretty happy,” he said.

“In 2016-17 tour to India, I was as a young kid at that time and it was clear that I had weaknesses at that point, and I’ve had so much time to go and work on my game,” Duckett added.

“Things are very different when you head back to England and it’s completely different conditions but I’ve always been In the job to figure out different ways of playing spin and backing my defence a bit more, and, committing my sweep in between that,” he said.

On losing all three reviews (DRS), Duckett said hopefully they just get them (the remainging wickets). “ The one that hit Shubman’s pad we thought it was going to hit the stumps, and somehow it’s bounced,” he said.

“Hopefully get them (appeals) right and the umpire puts his finger up,” Duckett concluded.