Ben Duckett defended Joe Root despite the Yorkshireman’s ugly dismissal that sparked an England batting collapse and left India in the driving seat in the third Test.
Root directed a reverse ramp he has made a specialty in the last couple of years into the slip cordon off India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as England crumbled from a competitive 224 for two to 319 all out and a first-innings deficit of 126.
Ashes 2005-winning captain Michael Vaughan tweeted Root is “far too good to gift India such a cheap wicket” although it is a shot he has used 22 times in the past, bringing 60 runs and one dismissal.
After India ended day three 322 ahead on a Rajkot pitch showing signs of sharp turn, Duckett argued Root, who is yet to pass 30 in five attempts in this series, was correct to go for it as he did.
“I’d be interested to know if those people were against it when he was doing it to (Australia captain) Pat Cummins and hitting him for six in last summer’s Ashes,” Duckett said. “I’ve no words for it.
“It’s the same as me playing a reverse sweep and getting caught at point. Options are practised and that shot has been very successful for him over the past year, so next time it may go over slip.”
Duckett was seen off by a Kuldeep Yadav long hop after a majestic 153 off 151 balls while Ben Stokes, on his 100th Test, holed out to cow corner on 41 but Root’s downfall was the major talking point.
India were effectively down to 10 men without Ravichandran Ashwin, who can only be replaced in the field and not as a batter or bowler following his overnight withdrawal because of a family emergency.
But England lost their last five wickets in 38 balls before Yashasvi Jaiswal ground them into the dirt – despite their willingness in sapping heat – as India went to stumps on 196 for two.
“It was one of those days when I feel we have to give credit to India,” Duckett said. “We want to take the positive option and I get more frustrated when I get caught at silly point, playing a nothing shot.
“I’d much rather get out putting the bowling under pressure and getting caught on the fence at times – as long as it’s a shot that you play and have practised thousands and thousands of times.
“We’ll come back (on Sunday) and give it our best.”
Duckett had carried England to 207 for two overnight off just 35 overs with a swaggering 88-ball ton, taking on all of India’s bowlers, including Ashwin, who had tormented the left-hander in 2016.
Indeed, Duckett lasted just two Tests into a five-match series but after six years out of the side, he has become indispensable on his second coming, averaging a shade under 50 in 30 innings.
“It’s obviously a very tough place to come and tour and I’ve said a lot over the last so many years that I wasn’t the first left-hander to struggle against Ashwin,” Duckett added.
“It’s the backing of this team that means I can go out and play with the freedom that I did here. It probably wasn’t the same back then. I’m not a completely different player to what I was.”
Jaiswal followed up his sparkling double century in Visakhapatnam with 104 before retiring hurt with a sore back on Saturday and Duckett believes the 22-year-old is taking his cues from England’s attacking style.
“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 added.
“We saw it a bit in the summer and it’s quite exciting to see other players and other teams are also playing that aggressive style of cricket.
“He looks like a superstar in the making, unfortunately he’s in some very good form at the moment. He’s due a couple of low ones.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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