“He doesn’t get the credit he deserves” - Michael Vaughan’s massive praise for star batter after ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on England opening batter Ben Duckett for his contributions across both innings in the historic five-wicket win over India in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. The left-handed batter scored 62 and 149 in the first and second innings, respectively, as the Ben Stokes-led side chased down 371 runs to claim a series lead.

Ben Duckett had made an impact in the last series against India in the subcontinent, and he continued his rich vein of form against them. The opener survived a scathing spell from Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings, and set the tempo for England in the run chase on the final day as well.

He was adjudged player of the match for his heroics, leading to Michael Vaughan labeling him the best all-format opening batter in world 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.

Duckett returned to the Test side after a six-year gap in 2022, scoring a ton in his comeback match during the Pakistan tour. Since then, he has not looked back, scoring 2,511 runs in 30 Tests at an average of 47.3. His red-ball heroics have helped him get into the white-ball sides as well, where he eventually began in the middle-order, before going on to claim the opening role.

"Don’t rotate for the sake of it" - Michael Vaughan on England's pace bowling combination for ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

The England second-string seam bowling unit arguably overachieved by bowling out India twice, and inducing lower-order collapses. The hosts had to go for a four-pronged attack of Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, and Brydon Carse, given the injuries to their first-choice candidates like Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, and Gus Atkinson.

England have the opportunity to shake up their attack as Archer is inching closer to a return after featuring for Sussex against Durham in the County Championship. On the other hand, Atkinson and Wood are hoping to return in the latter half of the series.

Vaughan, however, urged England to keep faith in the current bowling group that delivered them the win in the series opener.

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 questioned (in his aforementioned column).

The former captain concluded by mentioning that another logic-defying win will lift England's spirits even further, helping their belief for the remainder of the series.

"After this, another Headingley classic, England will believe they can win any game any way. Of all their crazy wins, this was different. They weren’t in charge at any point, then pulled off a massive chase in controlled fashion. It was Bazball with brains," he added.

England will face India in the second Test of the series at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from Wednesday, July 2, onwards.