'Genuinely curious, is this kind of cricket...': SA bowler urges more help for bowlers after Hyderabad carnage
South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi asked everyone if the slam-bang cricket, one that was on display on Saturday between India and Bangladesh is fun for people to watch. Team India smashed the highest T20I score among full-member nations amassing 297 on a very good pitch in Hyderabad.
Team India bulldozed Bangladesh into submission with a powerful performance in the three-match T20 series while ending on a high, smashing the second highest team score in T20Is. Sanju Samson with his maiden T20I century, Suryakumar Yadav with a fifty and Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag with their cameos propelled India to a humongous score of 297 runs on a very good pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, the young blue brigade tormented the Bangladeshi bowlers.
In response, Bangladesh could only get to 164 as, 461 runs were scored on Saturday night in Hyderabad, the second biggest aggregate of a match in T20Is. While there was an evident difference in the skill and quality level between the two sides, South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi wondered if this slam-bang version of cricket was fun for the general audience. Shamsi on X (previously Twitter) admitted that there is no doubt in the skill-level of the Indian batters but urged for a fare contest between bat and ball and some more help for the bowlers in general.
"I'm sure this is loads of fun for the batters.... But is this kind of cricket fun for people to watch when there is no fair contest between the bat and ball? Genuinely curious," Shamsi wrote on X.
"There is no dispute about the skill level and quality of the Indian batters and yes we only judge the pitch once both teams have batted on it. But.... there has to be a balance between bat and ball in the contest. Bigger boundary sizes or more help for the bowlers in the pitch," he added.
Several Indian fans in Shamsi's comment section shared pictures of the boundary size of Hyderabad stadium and as seen in the IPL, it is one of the biggest grounds in the country. Yes, the wicket was flat but Bangladesh too had 20 overs to score runs on the same wicket and they fell short by 133 runs. So definitely, everything can't be blamed on the wickets.