Joe Root’s record followed by Kevin Pietersen’s reaction
England player Joe Root has moved higher in the list of Test run-scorers. He scored 150 runs against India in the Manchester Test and passed Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run scorer in Test cricket.
Root has now scored 13409* runs in 157* matches. His average is 51.17. He has 38 centuries and 66 half-centuries in his career. Only one player is ahead of him now — Sachin Tendulkar, who has 15921 runs and 51 centuries.
Right after this big milestone, Kevin Pietersen gave a strong comment that became viral on social media. Pietersen said that batting now is much easier than it was many years ago.
“Don’t shout at me, but batting these days is way easier than 20 25 years ago. Probably twice as hard back then.” – Kevin Pietersen
He wrote this on X and also asked people if they can name 10 bowlers from today who are as good as the bowlers from his time.
Pietersen listed 22 top bowlers from his playing days
In his tweet, Pietersen gave the names of 22 bowlers he played against and said they were very difficult to face. He believes only a few bowlers today can match the standard of these names.
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Here are the bowlers Pietersen listed:
Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Darren Gough, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori, Chris Cairns, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh
He said clearly in his tweet:
“Please name me 10 modern day bowlers that can compare to the names above”
Is batting really easier now
Pietersen’s statement has started a new debate among fans and experts. Some agree with him and say that flat pitches, rules that support batsmen, and DRS have made batting easier. Others believe that today’s bowlers are still skillful but their style is different.
Pietersen’s point is that the bowlers he faced were more dangerous and had more variety. That is why he feels it was harder to bat in his time. He shared this opinion right after Joe Root’s record, which means he thinks such records are easier to break today.
Conclusion
Kevin Pietersen has brought back the talk about bowling quality in Test cricket. Many people have said before that bowling standards are going down. But when a former great like Pietersen lists 22 top bowlers and says today’s bowlers cannot match them, it creates a strong point.
This is a challenge for today’s bowlers. Can they really be compared to names like McGrath, Warne, Muralitharan, or Shoaib Akhtar? Or has the game really become easier for batsmen?
This debate will not end soon. But Pietersen’s words have surely made people think again about how Test cricket is changing.
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