1st Test: ‘India openers’ attacking intent sign of pitch going to get worse,’ says England batter Ben Duckett

The Newz Radar

Hyderabad: England opener Ben Duckett said that the visitors were surprised by the attacking intent of the Indian openers on day 1 of the first Test in Hyderabad on Thursday (Jan 25).

Notably, India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Rohit Sharma took the attack to the bowlers as they got quick some runs after bowling England out for 246 in the first innings. Duckett, however, thinks that the positive intent from the Indian openers is a sign that the pitch is going to get worse as the game progresses.

“The way they played at the top was quite positive, and that’s fair play to them. I don’t think we necessarily thought they were going to come out and play like that,” Duckett said.

“They don’t always go about it like that, so to go about it that way shows that they probably think that pitch is going to get quite a bit worse,” the English opener said to the reporters.

Talking about the pitch, Duckett acknowledged that it was a tricky pitch but they were happy with what they got on the board.

“It was quite a good day. I thought we were pretty happy there, getting bowled out for what we were. I thought Stokesy was superb. We found it pretty tricky and I think, to be honest, they played well and really positively tonight. It’s tough work against that attack, and I thought we grafted really well today… when the ball is spinning like that on day one, it can be quite tough,” he said.

India ended day 1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal batting unbeaten on 76 along with Shubman Gill (14). The home team currently trails by 127 runs after bowling out England for the third session of day 1. In reply, India posted 119 runs for the loss of skipper Rohit Sharma’s (28) wicket which was taken by Jack Leach.