Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting recently shed light on how the Asian teams have improved their pace battery. Pakistan is always known to have fast bowling factory and has produced some of the greatest pacers in the last 30 years.
India, on the other hand, was mainly known for producing high-quality spinners but the same has changed in the last decade. A host of Indian fast bowlers have been rising through the ranks and they have played an instrumental role in the success of the team, especially in Test matches.
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma have done a fantastic job for the team in the last few years. Furthermore, a lot of credit also goes to the IPL for the upliftment of fast bowling in Indian cricket.
Ricky Ponting said while talking to ICC, “If you think about it now, Pakistan has probably had a fast bowling culture over the last 20–25 years, more so than the spinners. In their last 10 or 15 years in international cricket, India has produced high-quality fast bowling as well.
“When you used to go to the subcontinent, whether it was India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, you’d be facing a lot of spin bowling and not a lot of fast bowling. That has changed dramatically over the last 30 or 35 years that I’ve been in and around the game.”
Ponting went on to add that the different T20 leagues like the IPL and the CPL have played a key role in crossovers of cultures across the glob.
“Competitions like the IPL and the CPL have played a huge part in the crossover of different cultures and the understanding of different cultures in different countries. Also, when you think of players playing in those environments, they have also got coaches from different countries coaching in different tournaments as well.”
Ricky Ponting had played for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He is currently the head of Delhi Capitals and had also led the team to the final in IPL 2020.
Meanwhile, India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the MCG on 23rd October.
