David Lloyd Hails Ben Duckett as England's Virender Sehwag: Former Coach Praises Aggressive Style

David Lloyd Draws Parallels Between Ben Duckett and Virender Sehwag

Former England coach David Lloyd has likened Ben Duckett's aggressive batting style to that of former Indian opener Virender Sehwag.

England's Ben Duckett showcasing his aggressive batting technique.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Lloyd highlighted Duckett's transformation: "Ben Duckett has come a long way since he poured a drink over Jimmy Anderson on an Ashes tour. 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 further elaborated on the connection between Duckett's hockey background and his batting prowess: "It’s no surprise to learn he was a good hockey player at school because it’s like a hockey shot."

Duckett's childhood coach, James Knott, shed light on the development of his signature reverse sweep.

“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,” Knott told The Times.

“We worked on orthodox sweeping and laps, and midway through his time at Stowe, 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.

A view of the iconic Headingley cricket ground.

Knott emphasized the importance of nurturing Duckett's natural attacking instincts: "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. 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's remarkable innings of 149 played a crucial role in England's successful chase of 371 runs on the final day of the Leeds Test.