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'You Are Hiding...': Ashwin Jabs Duckett's 'Lame Excuses' After England's Painful Loss

Soumyajit Dutta

Ashwin blasts Ben Duckett for his comments [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]Ashwin blasts Ben Duckett for his comments [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]

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Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin launched a blistering critique of England’s floundering white-ball squad following their dismal tour of India, where they slumped to a 1-4 T20I defeat and a humiliating 0-3 ODI clean sweep. 

On his YouTube show "Ash Ki Baat," Ashwin lambasted England’s lack of accountability, accusing the team of masking poor performances with 'cheap humour' and 'lame excuses' instead of confronting their struggles head-on.

Ashwin Hits Back At Duckett

Ashwin reserved sharp words for England's Ben Duckett, whose nonchalant dismissal of the ODI series loss at the post-match presentation, "I don’t care if we lose 3-0 as long as we beat India in the Champions Trophy final," drew ire. 

“When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they’re playing differently than how other people play Test cricket,” Ashwin retorted.

Ashwin also recalled Duckett’s controversial 2024 Test series remark crediting England’s 'Bazball' approach for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s aggressive batting. 

“Ben Duckett has said similar things in the past too, saying Yashasvi Jaiswal has learnt playing aggressive cricket from England’s bazball style. I know Ben Duckett and his penchant for humour.. but this was no joke and it is like you are hiding your failures behind a humour. Your 2023 ODI WC were pretty bad as well. It isn’t like they are in a bad form over 2-3 months. It has been the case for four years now,” Ashwin fumed. 

Ashwin further stressed that such attitudes risk deepening England’s "confidence crisis" ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Ashwin Slams Stokes’ WTC Whinge

Ashwin also slammed Ben Stokes for recent complaints about the World Test Championship’s points system, calling the criticism 'baseless.' After Stokes claimed he "didn’t understand" the WTC’s framework, Ashwin shot back also targeting England's performance as a whole.

"My only advice to him is that if you don’t understand the points system, then first go and understand it. This is not a joke. Every time you lose, you bring up such lame excuses. If India have played the way England are playing their cricket now, do you think we would have same captain and coach continue to be at the helm. After coming to India, they discuss about the pitch conditions, the kind of food they receive at the hotel…. everything but cricket," Ashwin remarked.

Despite the scathing assessment, Ashwin conceded England could rebound at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, urging them to ditch the "casual approach" seen in India. 

"It is not that they don’t have the ability, but they have taken this ODI series against India very lightly. And England might look a completely different side in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy. If they don’t look a better team, I’d be very disappointed," Ashwin warned. 

Nevertheless, after the series sweep, England will be heading straight to the Champions Trophy with their tournament opener being against Australia on February 22. They will conclude the group stage with a match against South Africa on March 1.