When the bell rings, it’s not the size of the fighter that matters — it’s the precision of the blows, the ability to absorb them, and the will to hit back harder.
835 runs in total — five centuries from the opposition. Every sign pointing towards collapse and defeat in a fourth innings chase. But in walked Ben Duckett — fearless and unfazed.
In the opening round of the five-Test clash against a transitioning Indian team at Headingley, Duckett stepped in not merely to survive, but to counterpunch with fearless intent, flair, and nerve.
While Jasprit Bumrah was doing Jasprit Bumrah things: testing techniques and rattling nerves, Duckett stood tall.
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He didn’t flinch. He fired back, landing clean, decisive strikes — 149 of them — each one shifting the momentum in England’s favour.
A mammoth 371 stared England down. Duckett didn’t just hang in. He fought. He scored. He played with purpose. And how.
There’s always been a certain grace to left-handers — a quiet elegance, even in the way they leave a ball outside the off-stump. Think of David Gower’s liquid timing, Alastair Cook’s monk-like patience or Andrew Strauss’ measured balance at the crease.
A different kind of southpaw
Duckett doesn’t belong to that school. He’s a different kind of southpaw — one built for tempo, not tradition.
He rarely leaves anything outside off and when the ball enters his zone, his instinct isn’t caution, it’s to attack. Every swing he takes is charged with aggression.
“He is now England’s answer to Virender Sehwag,” wrote former England player-turned-commentator-turned-coach David Lloyd in his Daily Mail column. It’s hard to argue with that sentiment.
Sehwag’s arrival in Test cricket was thunderous. Handed a debut in the middle order against South Africa, he announced himself with a 105 before earning a promotion to the top.
A gamble to promote him to the opening slot first attempted at Northamptonshire became a blueprint the senior England side would adopt, to much success
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It was an inspired move by captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright. They gave him what most players only dream of: freedom to play and to learn on his own terms.
With that came the destruction of bowlers and, consequentially, of tradition.
That elevation gave him the licence to attack, to play on instinct and, most importantly, to fail without the fear of being dropped.
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All-out aggression
Sehwag didn’t just score runs; he dismantled attacks, instilled fear in bowlers and reshaped the way openers were viewed in the sport. He imposed himself, series after series.
For Duckett, the journey to open for England began long before current head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes entered the picture.
It all started in 2016 with a stroke of bold ‘intuition and chance’ at Northamptonshire. The county side was then searching for an opener and coach David Ripley took a ‘chance’ by promoting Duckett, then a middle-order batter, to the top.
This move would eventually transform his career.
That same bold belief has come from ‘Baz’ McCullum and Stokes.
In Duckett, they saw a disruptor — a player with the mindset to break patterns, not adhere to them. And like Ganguly and Wright did for Sehwag, they handed Duckett the keys to the top order. No overthinking, no axe hanging — just a license to play.
The result? A left-hander who’s now attacks just like what Sehwag once did.
“I didn’t think I’d be an opening batter, but I’m enjoying the role”, Duckett was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“I started my career batting lower down where you can get away with playing a bit loose. But I’ve batted better since I began opening, so I’m going to keep playing this way. I’m still trying to learn to play as straight as I can early on in my innings.
“If I’m going to the next step, I’m going to need to be technically better as an opener and maybe a bit more patient. But I’ve made things work so I’ll try and carry it on”, he added.
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Trial by fire
It’s hard to believe how it all began for the 30-year-old back in 2016 — a debut in Test cricket that was as fleeting as it was unforgiving. Thrown into the subcontinental furnace, he started brightly in Bangladesh, scoring two half-centuries in the ODI series.
But that early promise quickly faded once he put on the Test whites.
Facing India its backyard is an entirely different ball game and a fledgling Duckett was left overwhelmed.
His tendency to rock back deep in the crease and play across his pads became a glaring flaw, one the Indian bowlers, particularly the spinners, exploited ruthlessly. Ball after ball, they exposed the glitch, reducing Duckett to a walking wicket.
He was dropped just two Tests into England’s eventual 4-0 series defeat — his final act, a 16-ball duck in Vizag. Vulnerable technique and the brutal reality of Test cricket had left him exposed. The door that once opened for him with enthusiasm shut just as quickly.
As if his on-field struggles weren’t enough, Duckett’s behaviour beyond the boundary only added to his woes.
During the 2017-18 Ashes tour of Australia, he found himself at the centre of a bizarre incident in Perth. He allegedly poured pints of beer over England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson.
What could have been shrugged off as immature banter quickly spiralled, with Duckett eventually sent home midway through the tour.
For many, that would have been the end. Duckett, though, wasn’t wired to disappear. He dug in. He rebuilt. He refined himself and let his bat do the talking.
It taught him resilience, perspective, and the hunger to grab every chance that came his way.
So when ‘Bazball’ and England called again in 2022, he returned, ready to rewrite his story and, this time, on his terms.
A blistering 107 off 110 balls against Pakistan in Rawalpindi announced his arrival. It was a statement of fearlessness, it set the tone not just for his second coming but also for England’s bold new era under McCullum.
He is not your quintessential elegant left-hander. Duckett was built for tempo, not tradition
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That knock came on Day 1 of a historic 506-run blitz — the most runs ever scored in a single day of Test cricket. Duckett’s innings was a masterclass in pacing: sweep, reverse sweep, glide and repeat. Spin was dismantled, rhythm destroyed.
The old Duckett was gone; this one is here to dominate.
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Just the beginning
Then came Rajkot, 2024. In a dust bowl, Duckett countered with audacity, smashing 153 off 151 balls enroute registering fastest Test century by an Englishman on Indian soil.
Reverse sweeps off Ravichandran Ashwin, front-foot drives through cover and an innings played at a strike rate that left even the most seasoned spinners scrambling. Cook called it “out of this world.
And now, there’s Headingley 2025. Chasing an imposing 371 against India, Duckett once again stepped in and turned up the heat. Bumrah was breathing fire as usual but the 30-year-old did not flinch.
His innings wasn’t built on recklessness; it was built on clarity. It tilted the balance and gave England the upper hand in round one of a five-Test saga.
From being discarded in 2016 and being sent home in 2017 to now standing tall as one of England’s most fearless Test openers, Duckett has seen it all. And if Headingley is any indication, the Nottinghamshire batter isn’t done just yet.
He doesn’t just play the Bazball way — he is its very definition. Dynamic. Defiant. And nowhere near done.