England's Ben Duckett: The New Virender Sehwag? Former Coach Draws Bold Comparison After Leeds Test Heroics

Former England coach David Lloyd has drawn a parallel between Ben Duckett and the explosive former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag. Lloyd made this comparison in his column for the Daily Mail, highlighting Duckett's transformation.

Ben Duckett in action. His aggressive style has drawn comparisons to Virender Sehwag.

"Ben Duckett has come a long way," Lloyd noted, referencing a past incident. "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. It’s no surprise to learn he was a good hockey player at school because it’s like a hockey shot."

Duckett's proficiency with the reverse sweep is a key element of his attacking game. His school days' coach, James Knott, revealed the origins of this shot.

“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. Certainly, I didn’t want to take away his attacking flair. And although he had a big hunger for runs, he was not selfish."

Knott also explained Duckett's desire to open the batting: "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 recently demonstrated his talent with a remarkable innings of 149, contributing significantly to England's successful chase of 371 runs on the final day of the Leeds Test.