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England’s opening batter Ben Duckett spoke about the main focus of his team as the visitors are set to face India for the final ODI of a three–match series in Ahmedabad on February 12. As this will be the last ODI match for both the teams ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, Duckett don’t mind losing the series to India by 0-3 as England’s main focus will be on winning the upcoming tournament in Pakistan (with India’s matches in Dubai).
India had a dominant in the ODI series against England and have already taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 with one game to go. However, England's highest run getter in the series, Ben Duckett made it clear that they are here for a bigger mission. “We have come here for one thing and that is to win the Champions Trophy," Duckett was quoted as saying by News18. “We still believe we can do that. It’ll be completely different conditions, all different teams we are playing against."
“If we lose 3-0 to India, I don’t care as long as we beat them in the final of the Champions Trophy. If we do that, we probably won’t look back on this if we do the business in that competition," the opening batter added.
It’s about peaking at the right time: Ben Duckett
Speaking further, Ben Duckett also talked about England’s current form in the ongoing ODI series against India. Duckett feels that the visitors have given a good fight to Men in Blue in both the matches and might have a good campaign in Champions Trophy 2025.
“It’s about peaking at the right time," said Duckett. “We have been close against this India side and we have been nowhere near our best. We will always take positives."
“We could dwell, start meetings and going at each other but the group under Baz (McCullum) aren’t going to do that.
“It’s difficult not to get the results here, but hopefully we can turn it around in Pakistan,” he concluded.
