Srinagar: England batter Ben Duckett has made a huge claim that it is going to be difficult tour for India when they play Test series in England.
Ahead of the five-match series, slated to be held in June, England opener Ben Duckett said that pace ace Jasprit Bumrah doesnt surprise him.
India have toured England 19 times in history since their first visit in 1932, but managed to claim just three series wins in the country, the last being in 2007.
Speaking to Mail Sport, Duckett predicted a similar fate for India in the 2025 series.
“India at home is very different to India away. It’s a side I feel we should beat and we can beat. It’ll be a good series,” Ben Duckett said.
“I’ve faced him in a five-Test series before. I know what he’s going to do to me, and the good thing about that is I know what skills he has,” said Duckett. “There’s going to be nothing that surprises me. It’s going to be challenging, and the red-ball skills of Mohammed Shami are just as threatening as Bumrah. But if I can get through that opening spell, I feel there are runs to be had.”
Bumrah and Duckett met in the winter of 2024/25, when England had toured India. The 31-year-old capped off an impressive series, picking 19 wickets at 16.89, but dismissed Duckett just once, that too after he had made 47 runs in that game. The England opener was also the team’s second-highest run-getter, with 343 runs, after Zak Crawley’s 407. In fact, 63 of those runs came against Bumrah during the series. On the other hand, he faced Shami back in 2016/17, where he scored just 18 runs against the right-armer without getting dismissed.