Michael Vaughan: Former England captain Michael Vaughan disagreed with Kevin Pietersen’s view that it was much harder to bat 20-25 years ago as compared to now. The 50-year-old said that Pietersen’s argument did not make any sense and added that there are enough quality bowlers in today’s cricket.
Michael Vaughan: Vaughan said he loves watching the modern-day game because he finds it to be competitive, and batting is not easier than in any of the previous eras. He said on Sony Sports Network,
“I think he’s talking nonsense. I have looked at the last six or seven years closely. You look at the Indian seamers now, they are as good as they ever had. You look at the Australian attack, that trio that Australia had, it is as good as they have had. You go to South Africa, Rabada and Jansen. “
“You go to New Zealand, Boult, Southee. I’ve loved the last few years of Test match cricket because it has been competitive. I am not saying it because of obviously ex-England player, but the England side have driven this modern way of playing. Flamboyant, mad at times. So in terms of a watchable team this England side have been so watchable. I think this era of batting, I don’t think it has been any easier than any other era. I think there’s some wonderful bowlers around”.
Michael Vaughan: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar also feels that the modern-day batter bats a lot more aggressively. He added that the game is still about scoring runs, regardless of the quality of bowlers, saying:
“You still have to score runs. Irrespective of the bowling you are facing, you still have to go get the runs. Don’t take anything away from the current players. Look at the way they have batted. They have batted with a lot more aggression than earlier times, maybe not during Kevin Pietersen’s time. I don’t take anything away from the runs that have been scored in recent times”.
Michael Vaughan: Kevin Pietersen opens up the debate on which era was harder to bat
Michael Vaughan: On July 26, the former England batter had posted on X (formerly Twitter) that batting nowadays was a lot easier than 20 or 25 years ago. He also went on to name 22 bowlers from the era gone by and questioned whether there are 10 bowlers who could be compared with any of them.
“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?” Kevin Pietersen had written on the platform.
Don’t shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 26, 2025
Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali,…
Michael Vaughan: A few days later, Kevin Pietersen again posted on the social media platform that he had yet to see responses to his question. The 45-year-old wrote:
“I see 4.6M people viewed my tweet about bowling being way better 25 years ago. I gave a list of 22 bowlers from back then. I’m still waiting for someone to name me 10 bowlers who are bowling at present who’d make that list please?”
I see 4.6M people viewed my tweet about bowling being way better 25 years ago.
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 28, 2025
I gave a list of 22 bowlers from back then.
I’m still waiting for someone to name me 10 bowlers who are bowling at present who’d make that list please?
Michael Vaughan: Kevin Pietersen made his Test debut in 2005 and played against the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in his debut series. A year later, in 2006, he faced Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in India.
Michael Vaughan: Towards the later stages of his career, he faced the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc while playing against Australia. He also faced up to the likes of Muttiah Muralidharan and Shane Warne during the course of his career.
