Ben Duckett gave India a taste of Bazball in England's first innings on Day 2 of the third Test in Rajkot by smashing a quickfire century.
India started play on Day 2 on 326-5 and finished the innings on 445, thanks to vital cameos from Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah.
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In reply, England got off to a blazing start, courtesy of Duckett's century, who reached the milestone in just 88 balls to become the visiting batsman with the third-fastest Test century in India.
England finished Day 2 on 207-2, of which Duckett had scored 133 with a strike rate of over 110.
The manner in which Duckett played, and also the way India allowed the southpaw to play, have raised a few questions on Rohit Sharma's captaincy.
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At Tea on Day 2, England had raced to 31 runs in just 6 overs. Duckett headed into the final session of the day on 19 (22 balls), assisted by Zak Crawley, who was a bit more reserved in comparison to his fellow opener (6 off 15 balls).
With the ball not doing much and pitch offering little to no assistance, Rohit took Bumrah out of the attack and handed the ball to Kuldeep Yadav, who started the proceedings in the post-Tea session.
In his very first over, Kuldeep was hit for back-to-back boundaries by Duckett, the 29-year-old showing no intentions of slowing down, taking the game to India.
By the end of England's 10th over, they were 67-0. Duckett had brought up his half-century in 39 balls, which was also his maiden fifty in India in his eighth innings.
In the first four overs of the final session, England had scored 36 runs, of which 31 runs were scored by Duckett in just 17 balls.
Both Kuldeep and Mohammed Siraj were going for runs, but Rohit didn't make bowling changes until the 12th over, when he brought on Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack.
Ravi Ashwin said, "I would've loved to bowl at Ben Duckett when he was on zero and not on at 60-70 runs (Smiles)". pic.twitter.com/SsvWLHKSpc
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 16, 2024
It was intriguing to see Rohit not using Ashwin earlier and only giving him the ball after Duckett was already on 55 and well-settled.
Indeed, Duckett had not scored a single half-century in the previous seven innings in India, and he fell to the same bowler in five of those innings, Ashwin.
Ben Garden, who is the managing director of Wisden, tweeted, "Ben Duckett had played seven innings in India before today without making a fifty, and Ashwin had got him five out of seven times. Now he's on 55* and Ashwin is yet to bowl a ball.
Ben Duckett had played seven innings in India before today without making a fifty, and Ashwin had got him five out of seven times. Now he's on 55* and Ashwin is yet to bowl a ball
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) February 16, 2024
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was also distraught by the fact that Ashwin was not given the ball before Duckett raced to his fifty.
"This is brilliant from Duckett .. love watching him Bat .. But how he has been allowed to get to over 50 without facing Ashwin is bonkers ..," Vaughan tweeted.
This is brilliant from Duckett .. love watching him Bat .. But how he has been allowed to get to over 50 without facing Ashwin is bonkers .. #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2024
Ashwin ultimately got a wicket to reach the 500-wicket mark in Tests, but it was not Duckett's wicket. The off-spinner dismissed Crawley to break an ominous opening stand which had already seen England score 89 runs.
What to expect from Day 3 of the 3rd India vs England Test?
Duckett (133* off 118) and Joe Root (9* off 13) will look to build on the tremendous foundation laid on Day 2 as England currently have the momentum. They trail India by 238 runs and will begin Day 3 at 207-2.
The pitch has heavily favoured the batsmen in the first two days. Apart from the opening hour on Day 1, the bowlers have had little to extract from the pitch.
Day 3 should see the English batsmen continue to milk runs at will, setting up another gruelling day of work at the office for the Indian bowling lineup.
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