"I have faced him in Test cricket" - England batter upset with his dismissal in IND vs ENG 2025 3rd T20I

India v England - 3rd T20I - Source: Getty — English and Indian players shake hands after 3rd T20I

England opener Ben Duckett regretted not taking down Axar Patel in the third T20I against India at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday. Duckett reflected that he fancied his match-up with the left-arm spinner and feels he should have hit the ball for six that got him out.

The Nottinghamshire was the only England batter to get to a half-century in the third T20I, getting to the landmark only in 26 deliveries. However, he fell only a few balls later for 51, holing out to Abhishek Sharma at deep mid-wicket, causing England to lose the plot from that stage. The Englishmen still won by 26 runs in the end.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the fourth T20I in Pune, the southpaw said they don't rein themselves in, no matter the situation. He thought to himself about missing out on a certain six. The 30-year-old said, as quoted by The Guardian:

"Two years ago, I would probably have been disappointed with myself how I got out, but me now, I’m thinking I missed out on six runs. I know what Axar does, I have faced him in Test cricket and it felt like my match-up. We speak about it a lot, we’d just lost a wicket but this side isn’t about reining it in.

"You saw what [Liam Livingstone] did after we lost two or three wickets, hitting three sixes. I was just disappointed I didn’t hit it – I won’t say 10 rows back, three rows back – because [Patel] was the guy I should have taken down."

With the tourists sliding to 87/3 after Duckett's wicket, it seemed England were heading for a score of 190 before that. Liam Livingstone's cameo of 24-ball 43 was worth gold as it pushed their score to 171.

"We could easily be 2-1 up in the series" - Ben Duckett on England's mistake in earlier games

Duckett also lauded their head coach Brendon McCullum's philosophy of going hard no matter the situation and is glad they stuck with it, adding:

"It’s a big moment for this team because it could have gone a different way. Credit to the guys for doing exactly what [Brendon McCullum] wants us to go and do. It’s to entertain. At times it’s not going to work, and that’s fine. But we could easily be 2-1 up in the series if things had gone a little bit better for us at the back end of the second game."

England face another must-win situation in Pune on January 31.