Ben Duckett raced to his first half-century in India on the second day at Rajkot, but there was some criticism of Rohit Sharma over his delayed introduction of off-spinner R Ashwin.

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Ben Duckett had performed creditably in the series up to now, reaching at least 20 in each innings, but without a statement score. He had at least improved on his first trip to India, in which he made 18 runs in three innings and was dismissed by Ashwin on each occasion.

He has also been dismissed by R Ashwin twice this series, making it five out of seven dismissals in India for Duckett against the great offie.

This time, Duckett raced away, first against India’s seam pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj and then against left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. It wasn’t until the 12th over, when Duckett already 55 off 42 balls to his name, that Ashwin was introduced. Duckett looked uncomfortable straight away, forced to defend before skewing a couple through cover. In his next over, Ashwin dismissed Zak Crawley to bring up his 500th Test wicket.

Former England Test captain Michael Vaughan described Rohit’s holding back of Ashwin as “bonkers”.

“This is brilliant from Duckett,” Vaughan wrote on X. “Love watching him bat. But how he has been allowed to get to over 50 without facing Ashwin is bonkers.”

“England have made a positive start,” he added. “No surprise. The surprise is that Ashwin hasn’t bowled yet. Quite remarkable.”

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