Indians Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (PTI photo)
NEW DELHI: Opener Ben Duckett believes England will not hesitate to test India’s top players with the short ball if they feel it is the right tactic, although the visitors know the challenge will be very different to the one they faced during their 4-0 T20I sweep.England’s barrage of bouncers has unsettled India’s young batting line-up in T20Is, with the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ishan Kishan frequently targeted. It was asked if the same trick could be used against the returning ODI supporters
Rohit Sharma
,
Shubman Gill
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Virat Kohli
Duckett suggested that England should remain flexible rather than abandon the idea altogether.
“We’ll test them. If they’re good at that (playing short ball), we probably won’t use the strategy as much.”
But I’ll be honest, I’m not sure we would have continued with it if we found it working,” Duckett said in response to a question posed by TOI during an interaction on the eve of the ODI opener. “Definitely, we have planned as a bowling group that will have Brookie (Harry Brook) leading as a rallying point.”Coupled with India’s experienced ODI batting line-up, Duckett knows that England’s batsmen will have to be at their best during the encounter.
Jasprit Bumrah
. Having only faced the Indian spearhead in Test cricket, the left-hander admitted that the demands of the 50-over format make the contest a very different proposition.
“There are not many weaknesses (in Bumrah),” Duckett said. “It (dealing with Bumrah) depends on whether the ball is swinging or if the ball is not swinging as much. Obviously he can swing the ball both ways at 90mph, so hopefully the sky is blue, there are no clouds and it doesn’t swing as much. That will be very helpful.”“He is the type of player that I imagine India will use throughout the innings to try and take wickets at all times and we will have to try to overcome that.
I’ve only faced him in Test cricket where ultimately you don’t have to look to score so quickly. There’s no pressure to score whereas in 50-over cricket, you can’t look to survive it. You still have to find ways to get rid of it. “But I think our players have faced him enough and everyone will have different plans for him,” Duquette added.Despite England’s emphatic success in the T20I, Duckett was quick to point out that the ODI series will be a very different Test.“Obviously the Indian team is different from the T20I team. They have brought in quite a few strong players, so we know it will be a really tough challenge. But a lot of our players are playing well, so we are looking forward to our chances,” Duckett said.The England opener added that the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not change England’s style. “Both of them (Virat and Rohit) are great players, but I don’t think we need to change the dynamics of our team too much. We have to stick to what we are doing and try to do it better than them. Ultimately, we will not fear anyone when we go out there.”(This interaction was facilitated by Sony Sports)