‘Small boundaries put the bowlers under pressure’ – Ravichandran Ashwin defends bowlers lackluster show in recent games
In India, the grounds are generally very small, and the boundaries are usually short to play with. When it comes to the T20 format, it becomes heavily one-sided in favour of the batters due to the small boundaries.
In this regard, Ravichandran Ashwin has said that the bowlers are under the pump as they have to bowl on flat pitches and skewered boundaries, which are heavily loaded in the batter’s favour. In the recent bilateral series against South Africa, the bowlers had to contend with minefields in the second and third T20I, which were held in Guwahati and Indore, respectively.
But the off-spinner believes that things will be better for the bowlers in Australia as they will have bigger grounds to bowl in. Ashwin put forth his opinions after India beat Western Australia by 13 runs in a warm-up match before the T20 World Cup at WACA in Perth.
“We can get caught up in what happens in T20 games and bilateral series back home. It’s only fair to say that the bowlers are getting hit around the park. But we also need to understand that the boundaries are close to the 30-yard circle in India and when we come to Australia, the boundaries are far bigger, a bit of license for the bowlers to work with,” he said.
You have got to be brave to bowl on Indian grounds- Ravichandran Ashwin
“It’s also very important to understand these conditions, the lengths you have to bowl and be brave enough to take those 50-50 options in these places,” Ashwin added.
Earlier, Shardul Thakur had his say on this discussion. He said that factors such as pitches and dimensions of the ground need to take into consideration while assessing the performance of the bowlers.
In India, the bowlers don’t have a lot of bounce to work with, but in Australia, there will be bounce available for the bowlers to work with, which will help them to get more out of the pitches there.
