'They talk about not playing for the draw, it is...' - Michael Vaughan brutally slams England's 'smug' approach after heaviest loss in Rajkot Test

In the recently concluded Rajkot Test against India, England faced the heaviest loss in the last 90 years; apart from that, they were bowled out for their lowest total in the Bazball era since May 2022. Meanwhile, the star opener Ben Duckett came up with a statement which drew a lot of criticism from the former England cricketers after the team’s embarrassing loss against the hosts.

“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” said Duckett to reporters after the end of day 3 in the Rajkot Test when young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a fiery century.

However, this statement from the England opener didn’t go down well with the former England skipper and now the cricket expert, Michael Vaughan; he slammed Duckett and England for a ‘smug’ approach in the ongoing five-match Test series against India.

“Duckett reckons they deserve credit for the way Yashasvi Jaiswal is batting as if no player in history has ever played an attacking shot. They talk about not playing for the draw, but to me, that’s disrespectful to Test cricket. The draw is a crucial part of the game, and in the five-Test contest has often provided the bedrock of some great series victories,” wrote Michael Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.

“They have to be careful that people around don’t think they are smug, or above their station. Root’s shot was another reminder that they are in a bubble. All that matters is their dressing room and fun. There is a bit more to Test cricket than that,” he added later.

"A double hundred from Yashasvi Jaiswal set the tone" - Nasser Hussain

Apart from Michael Vaughan’s blunt take, another former England skipper Nasser Hussain also advised England to learn some intent from India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal.

“In the second Test, a double hundred from Yashasvi Jaiswal set the tone. In Rajkot this week, it was hundreds from Rohit and Jadeja,” wrote Hussain in a column for Daily Mail.