A difference of 10 km/h can be huge in cricket. It might not be easy to face a bowler who is clocking 150 km/h consistently than a bowler who is bowling at 140 km/h. The higher the speed, the less time a batsman gets to react to the ball. For former West Indies legendary fast bowler Michael Holding speed of over 150 km/h is real pace.
An extra yard can hurry the batsman and it is not easy to play the experimental shots against such a pace of 150 kmph. We have seen Rohit Sharma pull a length ball with disdain as he has always got an extra second to play against the quicks.
On the other hand, former South African captain AB de Villiers will dance around his crease and he will scoop the fast bowlers over the short fine-leg fielder.
The T20 format has made batsmen more attacking and they have discovered different kinds of shots to stun the opposition bowlers. The modern day batters hardly show any respect to the bowlers these days and it is tough to be a bowler in contemporary cricket.
Meanwhile, Holding feels it is not easy to hit the big shots against the fast bowlers who were really quick like Dale Steyn, Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar.
Holding, who used to send shivers down the spine of the opposition batsmen with his pace and bounce during his heydays, said he won’t be worried while bowling to modern-day batsmen. Holding’s most potent weapon in his armoury was his pace and he was always confident in his skills.
“I think batsmen play their shots depending upon the pace of the bowlers. Those players and the shots that you are talking about I would like to see them play those shots against someone with real pace,” Holding said.
“Dale Steyn for instance or Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhtar. If they can play shots like that against that pace I’ll start to worry about what I am going to do. With the kind of pace I used to bowl, I wouldn’t be worried about those shots being played,” he added.
Meanwhile, the bats have improved in the last decade and the batsmen are more attacking in their approach. The game has changed a lot and the credit goes to the evolution of T20 cricket. The batsmen are more audacious in their strokeplay and the pitches are also batting friendly, which has tilted the game in favour of the batsmen.
