"Until Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were playing all 3 formats, he was not even in the conversation" - Aakash Chopra on claims about Ben Duckett

Former India player Aakash Chopra has acknowledged that Ben Duckett is one of the best all-format batters in world cricket currently. However, he noted that the England opener might not have even been in contention had Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma still been playing all three formats.

Duckett scored 62 runs off 94 deliveries in the first innings and a 170-ball 149 in the second innings in England's five-wicket win in the first Test against India in Leeds. A few former England players, including Michael Vaughan, claimed that the left-handed opener is the best all-format batter in world cricket at the moment.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that Vaughan and others couldn't have made such a claim had Kohli and Rohit not retired from Tests and T20Is.

"If we see Ben Duckett's performance, you will have to concede that he is good. He has performed very well over the last two years across the three formats. The first thing is that until Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were playing all 3 formats, he was not even in the conversation. They were like the Himalayas, and everything, no matter how big it might be, looks small in front of a mountain," he said (2:00).

Chopra also pointed out that Duckett hasn't yet proved his credentials in all conditions.

"Once they retired, you suddenly felt that all-format players have become very limited, and that he (Duckett) is the best among those who remained. However, there is a caveat. He hasn't played Test cricket in Australia, played a total of three innings in South Africa, and his performance has been limited in India. So it's not a straightforward done-and-dusted story," he elaborated.

Ben Duckett has amassed 4,324 runs at an average of 42.39 in 79 matches across the three formats. However, he has never played international cricket in Australia and has an average above 35 only in England and Pakistan.

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"Scoring runs in big matches is the biggest yardstick" - Aakash Chopra compares Travis Head with Ben Duckett

Travis Head has scored 7,719 runs at an average of 41.27 in 169 international games. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted Travis Head is competing with Ben Duckett for the accolade of the best all-format batter in world cricket currently, highlighting that performances in big games hold greater significance.

"Travis Head is standing next to him. If you see Travis Head's last two years' numbers, you would say, 'Wait, Michael Vaughan.' He might be slightly behind in Tests, but when you see ODI cricket, and the big matches, you look at the 2023 WTC final and the 2023 ODI World Cup final, scoring runs in big matches is the biggest yardstick," he said (4:25).

The cricketer-turned-commentator rated Head above Duckett due to his big-match performances.

"This guy does that job. So if you do man-to-man marking, the numbers are quite similar, Ben Duckett is ahead in some areas and Travis Head is ahead in other areas, but, in my humble opinion, I think Travis Head is slightly ahead of him just because he has done very well in big moments," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that Aiden Markram and Shai Hope could be the other two contenders, but highlighted that their numbers across all three formats are not that good. To conclude, the analyst named Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant as the four Indian batters who could potentially compete for that honor if they play all three formats.