‘He had good googly, not mystery’ – Ben Duckett’s strong take on Pakistan sensation Abrar Ahmed

Pakistan lost to England in the first Test and faced off against the Ben Stokes-led team in the second Test of the three-match series on December 9, Friday. Eventually, after electing to bat first, the Three Lions were bowled out for 281, courtesy of debutant Abrar Ahmed’s seven-for. 

To add more, after conceding 114 runs, Ahmed went on to pick 7 wickets in the first innings, which played a vital role in bowling out the English team for a lower total than expected. Ben Duckett, the opener, remained the top-scorer of the team in the innings with his 49-ball 63. 

Commenting on Ahmed’s spell, the batter said that there was no mystery and it was all about his leg spin. Further, Duckett, who batted at a strike rate of around 128, claimed that he was a good bowler with impressive skills and was on form during his debut. 

I can only talk individually: Ben Duckett

Revealing that he had plans to tackle the spinner, Duckett added that they had no plans of blocking the ball, despite knowing that the debutant could cause a lot of damage if taken to task. Further, the English batter claimed that his teammates were able to pick Ahmed but could not put the balls away on the day against the Babar Azam-led men. 

“I can only talk individually and I obviously had my plans for him. He was basically a leg-spinner who had a good googly; there was no real mystery to it. He bowled beautifully today and I’m sure we’ll have our plans in the second innings – but I’m pretty sure that we won’t be blocking it,” Duckett was quoted as saying. 

“I think I swept about 90% [of the time] and when you’re sweeping, you don’t tend to necessarily look for it, but his googly was a lot slower. In general, most of the guys actually said they did pick him. I think he just bowled some nice deliveries and unfortunately for us, it was his day,” said the English batter further. 

“There was limited footage, mainly on him bowling in the nets here, and not much to left-handers. Personally, I’d rather not know all of his tricks because I’d be worried and thinking about what he can do. I’d rather focus on what I can do to him,” he added. At the end of Day 2, England were reeling at 202/5, leading by 281 runs post crushing Pakistan for 202 runs in their first innings.