Not Rohit Sharma! Nasser Hussain picks Ben Duckett as best modern test opener, says "daylight between him and rest"

Nasser Hussain said Ben Duckett always sticks to his aggressive approach.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain heaped praise on English opener Ben Duckett for playing an attacking brand of cricket. Hussain also labelled him as the best modern-day opener in test cricket, snubbing the likes of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The 29-year-old Duckett has been one of the key test batters in England’s Bazball era, under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. The left-handed batter has produced some stunning knocks all along while playing attacking cricket.

Since 2022, Duckett has made 1711 runs in 22 matches at an average of 45.02, and, perhaps more importantly, at a high strike rate of 88. The left-handed batter has notched up three centuries and nine half-centuries in this period.

There is literally daylight between Ben Duckett and the rest: Nasser Hussain

The cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain praised Ben Duckett for going after the deliveries outside the off-stump, something the openers of previous generations, and some even now, didn’t do as frequently as Duckett does.

“By the time he had added 86 runs to his tally, Duckett had swelled his tally of balls played at this series to 197 of 198. Contrast that to players like Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton, two more predecessors as England openers who would ignore deliveries outside off-stump and make the bowlers bowl in areas they wanted them to. Or compare Duckett to any other modern Test opener for that matter. There is literally daylight between him and the rest,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

Hussain further compared the leave percentage of Duckett’s with other current openers.

“His career leave percentage is 1.7%, making him nearly five times as likely to play than Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique, the next man on the list with 8.3%. India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal is next with 8.9%. Also consider that Dom Sibley and Rory Burns, two of the openers in the previous England regime, boasted 25.3% and 21.5% respectively,” Hussain added.

“When everything is in the bowlers’ favour, that is exactly how the England team management want him, Duckett to play – putting pressure back on the opposition. Leaving might be a high percentage choice for others. Not him. He always sticks to his guns,” former England captain Hussain concluded.

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