Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen are at loggerheads over the debate around whether Test cricket has become easier in the modern era. Recently, Kevin Pietersen said that batting in Test cricket was much harder 20–25 years ago than it is now.
The former England batter also shared a long list of great bowlers from the past, like Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, and many others. And Pietersen asked fans to find even ten current-day bowlers who can match their skill and threat.
Kevin Pietersen calls the past Test era tougher
Kevin Pietersen posted on X: “Waqar [Younis], Shoaib [Akhtar], [Wasim] Akram, [Saqlain] Mushtaq, [Anil] Kumble, [Javagal] Srinath, Harbhajan [Singh], [Allan] Donald, [Shaun] Pollock, [Lance] Klusener, [Darren] Gough, [Glenn] McGrath, [Brett] Lee,
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“[Shane] Warne, [Jason] Gillespie, [Shane] Bond, [Daniel] Vettori, [Chris] Cairns, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Murali[tharan], Curtley [Ambrose], Courtney [Walsh], 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.”
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Michael Vaughan hits back hard at Kevin Pietersen
But Michael Vaughan didn’t agree at all and launched a strong counterattack on Pietersen on live TV. Vaughan completely rejected Pietersen’s claims and defended the quality and competitiveness of modern Test cricket. He believes that batting in Test cricket is still very difficult today.
He pointed to the world-class pace attacks of the current era, highlighting India’s impressive pace attack featuring Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj and Australia’s dangerous trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, which he believes are among the best ever produced.
Even Vaughan also praised South Africa’s lethal pair of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, as well as the consistent threats posed by New Zealand’s Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
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Michael Vaughan calls Kevin Pietersen’s views on modern Test cricket “Nonsense”
Michael Vaughan 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 were. You look at the Australian attack; that trio that Australia had is as good as they have had. You go to South Africa, Rabada and Jansen. You go to New Zealand, Boult, Southee.”
Vaughan said that Test cricket has been very exciting and competitive in the last few years. He also mentioned that today’s batters play with more aggression than before, and that doesn’t mean the game gets easier, but players are braver and take more risks against the smart and dangerous bowlers.
The Englishman further explained, “I’ve loved the last few years of Test match cricket because it has been competitive. I think in this era of batting, I don’t think it has been any easier than any other era. I think there are some wonderful bowlers around. You still have to score runs. Irrespective of the bowling you are facing, you still have to go get the runs.”
Michael Vaughan orders Kevin Pietersen to respect modern-era cricketers
Furthermore, Vaughan has made it clear that the performances of modern players should be respected, and the credit should not be taken away from them just because they play differently than before.
He signed off by saying, “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.”
