Present Bowlers Are Probably Up Against Better Batting Units: Mahela Jayawardene

There is a perception in the cricket fraternity that the level of bowling has dropped in recent years. The reason behind that is the ease with which the batsmen have been scoring runs. Not very long ago, any score around 300 or more than that was considered safe.

However, it has become a thing of the past now. Even 350-plus scores are not considered totally safe now. Most of the bowlers in the world have struggled to contain the batsmen in recent times. And while one can say that the rules are highly tilted in batsmen’s favour, many believe that the standard of bowling has gone down.

However, former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene feels the current lot of pacers and spinners is up against better batting units. Having played a total of 652 international games, Mahela Jayawardene faced the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Dale Steyn, Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble and several other legendary bowlers in his career.

He also faced a number of big names who are still playing the game. And the legendary batsman, whose international career spanned close to two decades, believes that the current bowlers are struggling because of the level of the batsmen.

“We are yet to see if the current crop of bowlers will hit the numbers that their predecessors did… The present bowlers are probably up against better batting units,” Jayawardene said during an ESPNcricinfo videocast with Sanjay Manjrekar.

On facing bowling attacks across two decades, the legendary batsman said, “If you look at the top 10 wicket-takers in modern-day cricket all of them played in that era (first half of his career). I missed out on Walsh and Kapil as I started just after that.

“There was (Mutthiah) Murali ( Muralitharan), (Shane) Warne, (Glenn) McGrath, Anil (Kumble), Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), Saqlain (Mushtaq), Wasim (Akram), Waqar (Younis), their numbers speak for themselves. The bowlers I faced in my career improved tremendously over the years,” he added.

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