Ben Duckett: England's Virender Sehwag? Former Coach Draws Bold Comparison After Leeds Test Heroics

England's Ben Duckett Hailed as the New Virender Sehwag

Former England coach David Lloyd has drawn a parallel between Ben Duckett and the explosive former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag.

England's Ben Duckett in action.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Lloyd noted Duckett's transformation, stating, "Ben Duckett has come a long way since he poured a drink over Jimmy Anderson on an Ashes tour." He further emphasized, "He is now England’s answer to Virender Sehwag and is opening the batting in your World XI. The reverse sweep is such a natural shot for him. He plays it for fun."

Lloyd also highlighted Duckett's hockey background, adding, "It’s no surprise to learn he was a good hockey player at school because it’s like a hockey shot."

Duckett's proficiency with the reverse sweep has also been acknowledged by his school days coach, James Knott.

Knott told The Times, “I’d seen better technical ability at that age, but he hit the ball very hard and had already begun reverse-sweeping, which he took from hockey." He further added how they worked on his sweeping techniques and how the school acquired a Merlyn spin-bowling machine. "In one match, against Brighton College from Australia, Ben went from 100 to 150 entirely through reverse-sweeps.”

Knott also spoke on nurturing his attacking talent. “Certainly, I didn’t want to take away his attacking flair. And although he had a big hunger for runs, he was not selfish. He wanted to open the batting as school cricket was not going to be much of a challenge if he was coming in at No. 4. That was the best thing to happen to him."

Knott concluded, "I thought he’d have a longer career in the shorter forms of the game and wasn’t sure if he would be successful at Test level, but Ben Stokes and ‘Baz’ McCullum arrived at just the right time for him.”

Duckett recently played a brilliant inning of 149, which helped the team chase the target of 371 on the last day of the Leeds Test.