Former England batter Kevin Pietersen slammed Ben Duckett’s poor running between the wickets during the first ODI against India in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6 as well. His comments came as he was involved in a major mix-up with Phil Salt in the first innings, which led to Salt’s dismissal when he looked in great form.

However, England openers posted over 70 runs in just eight overs. Salt had played a stunning cut shot off Hardik Pandya’s bowling, and he was about to take a third run after Shreyas Iyer pulled off a dive in the deep to restrict a boundary. Duckett responded to Salt’s call and sent his partner back midway while taking the third run as well. However, the right-handed opening batter got stranded in the middle and was run-out after scoring 43 runs off 26 balls as well.

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“If you have a look at Duckett’s running, he was jogging. He was not at full sprint. Then he slows down further. He was not at his partner; he was just shouting. Salt was saying come come come. Actually, if Duckett had gotten his foot down, hustled and sprinted, there would have been more decisive thinking,” Pietersen told broadcasters during the mid-innings break (via Hindustan Times). “But then, there was too much of a jog, too much of a coast and it proved to be costly. Salt got a fifty the other night at Wankhede and here, he was again batting beautifully and this cost England another 50-60 runs.”

“Absolutely, three was on. And if it wasn’t on, there needed to be better shouting. It all seemed to be a little bit too relaxed. If I was the coach of England, I wouldn’t be livid but I would certainly sit down and have a chat with Ben Duckett. I saw this in the T20Is as well. and I’d say to him, ‘Listen buddy, I want you to run way quicker and be more decisive while running between the wickets’,” Kevin Pietersen concluded.