Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed a fault in modern batsmen’ preparation for hard lengths, according to South African legend Dale Steyn, following the Delhi Capitals’ shocking defeat in the IPL in New Delhi on Monday night.
With six wickets in the first four overs, Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar tore apart the Delhi Capitals’ batting lineup, assisting Royal Challengers Bengaluru in dismissing DC for just 75 in 16.3 overs.
According to Steyn, batsmen are no longer afraid and they simply don’t practice long enough for bowlers like Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar, Kagiso Rabada, and Jofra Archer.
“Watching Bhuvi, Hazelwood, throw KG and Archer in there too, there’s a genuine fear from batters not because they scared, but they know exactly where these greats are going to bowl but don’t practice enough in that area to have answers,” (sic) Steyn posted on X.
“The fear is technical skill, too deep into the tournament to change now, watch these bowlers continue to dominate. Its called a HARD length for a reason…” (sic) Steyn added.
Steyn’s views were given a batting viewpoint by former batter from South Africa Herschelle Gibbs, who stated that hitters do not rush down the pitch against bowlers sufficiently to disrupt their lengths.
“No batter keen to run at them to get them off their lengths,” Gibbs replied.
After falling to 8/6 at one point, the Delhi Capitals eventually limped to 13/6 after six overs, setting an IPL record for the lowest powerplay score.
Delhi Capitals scored 264/2 on Saturday, setting the highest score of the season, but they were powerless to stop Punjab Kings’ historic chase with 7 balls to spare.
But two days later, Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar combined for seven wickets and dismissed Delhi for 75 on a different, livelier surface at the same Arun Jaitley Stadium.
In sharp contrast to the batting devastation frequently witnessed during powerplays, Delhi lost six wickets in just four overs. Both RCB seamers got the ball to swing around while bowling the standard Test match length.
“Even I’m surprised the way the wicket played. The way they hit those areas and got that bit of swing, that was tremendous to see. I think the swing was normal, and the good thing was we got early wickets and that’s why it kept us in the driving seat,” PTI quoted RCB captain Rajat Patidar as saying.
DC captain Axar Patel claimed they had trouble with two elite bowlers.
“They swing the ball and have done it at every ground. If our openers or one-down batters had batted one or two more overs, it could have been a different score or a different match. Credit to them for the way they bowled,” he added.
