Former England player Kevin Pietersen said that batting in the modern era has become pretty easy compared to what it was 20-25 years ago. He also suggested there has been a decline in top bowlers in the sport taking the names of starts from yesteryears like Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath among others to compare them to today’s bowlers.
“Don’t shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then! “Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali, Curtley, Courtney and the list could go on and on… I’ve named 22 above. Please name me 10 modern day bowlers that can compare to the names above?,” Pietersen wrote on X on Saturday.
Pietersen, who played 104 Tests, 136 ODIs and 37 T20Is for England between 2005 and 2013, has been as flamboyant with his views as he was in the middle with the bat.
Don’t shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then!
Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali,…
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 26, 2025
The former right-handed batter, who made 8,181 runs at 47.28 with 23 tons and 35 fifties in Test cricket, said batting was “twice as hard back then”.
This came on a day when Pietersen’s country mates Ben Stokes and Joe Root’s tons guided England to an imposing 669 in their first innings. Stokes (141 from 198 balls) put to rest his two-year long drought to make his 14th Test hundred as England marched on to a 600-plus total. Root, meanwhile, overtook Australia great Ricky Ponting to climb to second place in the all-time list of Test run scorers.
He capitalised on a wayward Indian bowling attack to smash 150 on Day Three of the Manchester Test, is now behind only Sachin Tendulkar’s towering mark of 15,921 runs.
Chasing, India were reeling on 1 for two in their second innings at lunch on Day 4 after conceding a massive 311-run lead. Pacer Chris Woakes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and B Sai Sudharsan in successive balls in the first over itself, as the visitors now trail by 310 runs.
(With agency inputs)
