"You've got to watch the ball so hard" - England batter lauds Jasprit Bumrah after Day 2 of ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

England opener Ben Duckett heaped praise on Team India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah after the latter's inspired bowling performance on Day 2 of the first Test at the Headingley in Leeds. Duckett feels facing the 31-year-old under the lights was an uphill challenge, given the ball swung both ways.

Bumrah was the sole wicket-taker for India on day two, dismissing all three England batters. The right-arm pacer began by removing Zak Crawley in the first over, followed by breaking the 122-run partnership between Duckett and Ollie Pope. At the fag end of the day, he got the better of Joe Root for 28, handing the tourists a window of opportunity.

Speaking after the match, Duckett, who made 62, said Bumrah is good in any conditions, and is extremely hard to predict what will he bowl. As quoted by The Guardian, he said:

"He’s the best bowler in the world. He’s extremely hard to face. He’s good in any conditions, and when he’s coming in down the hill with the lights on and it’s swinging both ways, it’s tough. Just his ability to bowl three or four different balls with no cue – you don’t know if he’s bowling a bouncer, or a slow ball, a yorker, an away-swinger or an inswinger until it comes out of his hand. You’ve got to watch the ball so hard with him."

The Ahmedabad-born cricketer also went past Wasim Akram's tally of 146 scalps, becoming the leading wicket-taker among Asian bowlers in SENA countries.

"He probably couldn’t come out in tougher conditions" - Ben Duckett lauds England batter

Ben Duckett. (Image Credits: Getty)

With England's No.3 Ollie Pope peeling off a ton and staying unbeaten at 100, Duckett said he couldn't have come out in tougher conditions but looked quite calm. The southpaw elaborated:

"He was just so calm coming out. He probably couldn’t come out in tougher conditions, with Jasprit Bumrah running down the hill with the lights on. I don’t know what’s inside his head, but he’s just stayed true to the way he plays, and there’s no better feeling than that, scoring a hundred against that attack, coming out in the first over. You could see it in the way he celebrated, and it didn’t just mean a lot to him, it meant a huge amount in the dressing room as well. I had goosebumps for him."

At Stumps, England reached 209/3 but still trail by 262 more runs