Ben Duckett doesn’t get the credit he deserves; he’s the best all-format cricket at the moment: Michael Vaughan

Ben Duckett won the Player of the Match award in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley, Leeds, after scoring a half-century in the first innings and a century in the second. The southpaw took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners en route to a stunning 149 off 170 balls to help England chase down a 371-run target and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan lavished praise on Duckett and said that the opening batter doesn’t get the kind of credit he deserves in the national team. Vaughan went on to name the Farnborough-born as the best batter across formats currently in international cricket.

“At the heart of this win was Ben Duckett. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves in this team. Pound for pound, I reckon he is the best all-format batsman in international cricket right now. There may be players who are better at one of the formats, but none of them are as good at all three. Others in the conversation would be Travis Head or Aiden Markram, but on current form I’d have Ben over them, especially as he does it in such a tough position, opening, across all formats,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

Don’t rotate for the sake of it: Vaughan

Vaughan also discussed potential bowling combinations that England could use in their impending matches of the series against Team India. He hoped that the Three Lions would not rotate their seam bowlers just for the sake of it. 

“I really hope they aren’t pencilling in names this early. Don’t rotate for the sake of it. What’s the rush, when these guys have been injured and will have played so little cricket? And for who?” Vaughan asked.

The second Test gets underway on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. England have a fantastic record against India at the picturesque venue, having defeated the Asian side in seven out of eight matches with one match ending in a draw.