Follow UsMark Wood credited Ben Duckett behind England’s firm position by the end of Day 2 of the Rajkot Test. The left-hander slammed his third Test hundred in 88 balls, the quickest for an Englishman in India. He finished unbeaten on 133 off 118 deliveries as England scored 207/2 at stumps. The visitors are 238 runs behind India in the first innings with eight wickets in hand.
Out playing defensive strokes in the Visakhapatnam Test, Duckett based his innings on attacking strokes throughout and manipulating the field.
"For someone like Ducky to play the way he did, that was honestly amazing. He tinkered with the field," Wood said after Day 2. "They put the man behind so he hit it in front, they moved him in front so he hit it behind. It was amazing to watch. The skill level and how brave it was to take on a quality attack like that when we were 445 behind, to play that freely, that is what the team is about, and how he played summed it up perfectly.
"He played with real bravery. To be that far behind in the game and go out and play like that showed real bravery and skill. The way India changed the field and then he'd hit it somewhere else, it was such a skillful innings against a good attack. He's a nightmare to bowl at in the nets, we try to get him to leave one but he never leaves any."
Duckett has had a tough time in India before. Touring the country for the first time in 2016, he managed only 18 runs in three innings before being dropped. In the first two Tests in this series, the 29-year old scored 131 runs in four innings. With this innings, he has buried the ghosts of the past.
Duckett had starts in each of the four innings, notching up over 40 runs for the opening wicket with Zak Crawley. His scores in these two Tests were 35, 47, 21 & 28. Duckett was the first batter to get out among the two in three out of four occasions. This innings, he carried, after Crawley departed for 15 in an 89-run opening stand.
"No one sees those starts, we see him [Duckett] and Zak going out and putting pressure on the opposition,” Wood said. “The main thing about this series is can we at time put pressure back on and Ducky certainly did that with some remarkable shots. I couldn't believe how clean he hit the ball. It wasn't just luck. He was deliberately hitting there and really smashing it. It was so good to watch.
"I'm delighted, the way he and Zak go out together and put pressure on the opposition. Maybe he hasn't gotten the accolades that he would like with big scores but this was his day and it was amazing to watch, especially as a bowler that's just bowled plenty of overs. It's a rapid outfield and we certainly felt it was tough to contain and Ducky really took it on and played in an aggressive fashion to put the pressure back on India."
Earlier in the day, England wrapped up India’s first innings for 445. Wood was England’s most successful bowler, picking 4/114, ending India’s innings with thelast wicket of Jasprit Bumrah.
"I don't know, we never really speak about it,” Wood answered about how good is India’s first innings’ score.
Wood also felt India didn’t go after the England bowlers when they had the chance.“It (India batted 130.5 overs in their innings) felt like a long innings, there was a period of play where India didn't really go anywhere, the game stayed the way it was. They weren't scoring fast runs but we weren't getting any wickets so the game just stayed where it was.
“There were other parts of the play where they were getting a bit too many runs here and we needed a wicket. It was a bizarre day, it almost felt like we should be getting more wickets but then the game was not going anywhere,” Wood extended his point of view on Day 1 where he picked three wickets.
Wood, however, feels the game is in balance, terming the morning session on Day 3 as a critical session in the game.
"The game is right in the balance. They will be thinking if they get wickets they are on top, if we get another partnership we will be on top. It's very much in the balance. It needs a bit of perspective at the end of the day. It was hard toil on that wicket. We certainly felt that as a bowling group, so wait until both teams have batted."