RAJKOT: Just as Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley went about their business on day two — they were taking on Indian bowlers, keeping the scoreboard ticking as if India hadn't batted one and a half days to post 445 didn't matter — there was an interesting graphic displayed on broadcast.
According to stats, Duckett and Crawley had faced 121 balls from Jasprit Bumrah in the first two Tests and had added 71 runs, while getting out just once. In contrast, all other England batters put together 88 runs in 227 balls, while getting out 14 times. The cumulative average of all other batters against Bumrah is 6.28. This stat, as much as there are other tangible factors involved, summed up how well the England openers have fared so far in the series.
Having put up stands of 55, 45, 59, 50 in the first two Tests, they followed it up with another 89-run stand on Thursday, ensuring that England got yet another good start. As they have done through the series, Duckett and Crawley stuck to their method and tried to disrupt the Indian pacers.
Duckett, in particular, was a lot more successful in Rajkot, playing the field, taking on both Mohammed Siraj and Bumrah. If Rohit Sharma kept a wide deep gully, he would play it down and closer to third slip, and once the fielder was moved, he would bring out the punch and hit the pacer in front of square. When Kuldeep Yadav was brought on, the sweep and reverse sweep came out, and depending on the field, he would play it wider or late to find the gaps. However, that did not mean he was unstoppable.
There were quite a few plays and misses, especially against Siraj who was angling it away, but Duckett did not get flustered by it and neither did England. If you watched Kuldeep and R Ashwin in their first spell, you would think they actually bowled well and tried to create as many chances as they could. And then, if you look at the scoreboard, Kuldeep would have gone for 42 in six overs and Duckett would have raced to a 39-ball fifty. Even as Crawley got out to Ashwin, Duckett kept going, along with Ollie Pope, taking the momentum forward.
What helped the England batters, apart from their method, is the way the conditions played out. Ashwin explained it after the day's play. "Pretty much for the first 3-4 days in all the Test matches – barring that last day in Hyderabad, where driving became really tough – it's been (the case that) you can literally plonk your foot down and drive on the up, and that's been the kind of pitches (we have had). It is supposed to be that way, and cash in if there is a fourth-innings possibility and the wicket deteriorates. The way they are playing is high-risk cricket and you would expect the rub of the green to go your way, like how it did in Vizag,” he said.
While Ashwin said that he and the Indian team are not flustered despite where England are in the Test match, he gave the due credit to Duckett for his knock. On Thursday, "the rub of the green" was with England, as for Crawley and Duckett, they have done their job, ensuring that Rohit had to constantly think on his feet and see how he can arrest the run flow while trying to take as many wickets as possible. And that in itself is a big win for not just Duckett and Crawley, but for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Will India be able to keep the England duo in check from here on? We will know in a few days.