‘A guy called Rishabh Pant…’: Rohit Sharma takes a dig at Ben Duckett over Yashasvi Jaiswal remark
Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma is known for his quirky answers and taking witty digs at press conferences. Sharma punctured England’s Bazball pride ahead of the fifth and final Test at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on 6 March, saying he still doesn’t know what exactly ‘Bazball’ actually means.
On being asked about the comment from England batter Ben Duckett about the visiting team taking credit for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s attacking heroics, the Indian skipper suggested to the England team that they have probably not seen Rishabh Pant bat.
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“There was a guy called Rishabh Pant in our team, probably Ben Duckett hasn’t seen him play,” Hindustan Times quoted Rohit as saying during the press conference.
Jaiswal emerged as India’s top-scoring batter in the ongoing Test series against England, scoring 655 runs in 4 matches so far at an average of 94.57 and a strike rate of 78.63.
Earlier, Duckett had suggested that the England team’s ‘Bazball’ style of play should be given credit for encouraging the left-handed Indian opener to play in the way he has batted so far.
“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” Duckett had said.
Not only Sharma, but even former England captain Nasser Hussain found Duckett’s comment deplorable.
“He’s not learned from you. He’s learned from his upbringing, all the hard yards he had to put in growing up. If anything, lads, look at him and learn from him. I hope there’s a little bit of self-introspection going on. Otherwise, it becomes a cult – and, at times, Bazball and this regime has been described as such, where you cannot criticise within or externally,” NDTV quoted Hussain as saying on Sky Sports.
On Bazball:
Rohit, during the press conference, admitted England have played better cricket than what the Joe Root-led side played the last time they toured here in 2021. However, he said that he was yet to figure out the true meaning of Bazball.
“I just don’t know what Bazball means. I haven’t seen wild swinging from anyone. England have played better cricket than they were here last time. But I still don’t know what Bazball means,” Hindustan Times quoted Rohit as saying to reporters on Wednesday.
The term ‘Bazball’ gained popularity after former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, fondly known as Baz, became the head coach of England’s Test team, while Ben Stokes took over the captaincy duties from Joe Root.
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Published: 06 Mar 2024, 04:49 PM IST
