England coach gives Akash Deep strict warning after Ben Duckett send-off: ‘In my time, would have dropped the elbow'

Hindustan Times

8 hours ago

There has been no lack of headbutting going on in the England vs India Test series, as particularly through the latter half of this five-match campaign players from both teams have gone at it against each other with verbal jabs thrown. Akash Deep puts his arm around Ben Duckett in a send-off after taking his wicket at the Oval.(AP)
This reached a peak, however, on Day 2 of the final Test, as Ben Duckett received an extreme send-off after being dismissed by Akash Deep, with an arm around his shoulders as the batter walked off.
The southpaw opener was credited for his patience by a different England lefty, as current assistant coach Marcus Trescothick mentioned that Akash was lucky not to receive a bigger response from Duckett.
"I was just saying, many in my time, a lot of players, would have just dropped the elbow on him,' said Trescothick in England's press conference. 'I don't think I've ever seen a bowler do that after getting someone out.'
Trescothick: 'Put your head down and walk off…'
Duckett's unorthodox and attacking batting at the Oval is what ultimately led to his wicket, and that seemed to be the bone of contention.
However, the assistant coach said Duckett 'did his job' and was right not to inflate the matter any further and calmly walk off the field.
"You see bowlers have many words like we've seen a bit in this series on both sides. But it was just different wasn't it? I was just laughing and joking about it,' explained Trescothick. 'Ben doesn't really do a great deal. Put your head down and walk off, your job is done at that point. There is no need to walk him off in that fashion."
While the heat of that moment swiftly passes, there would be a brief spell of nastiness later as Prasidh Krishna and Joe Root had a brief shouting match, which needed to be interrupted by umpire Kumar Dharmasena.
Many fans questioned what Krishna said to get such a rise out of Root, who is typically a very cool-headed player. Krishna explained there was nothing too severe, with the pair being familiar with each other from their time on the same team in the IPL.
"It was a very small thing. It was just a combative edge that was coming out. We are good mates off the field. It was just a bit of banter and we both enjoyed it," said India's fast-bowler.