In Test cricket, the aggressive batting trend has been on the rise for some time. From batsmen like India’s Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill to England’s Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, they are seen batting in the Test. So far these batsmen have been successful on most occasions, but former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen calls such batting a threat to Test cricket.
Pietersen in a tweet has pointed out two big potential dangers of aggressive batting in Test cricket. He wrote: “Much importance is given to Century in a test match because it shows how much importance a batsman places on his wicket and how much responsibility he has shown to save it.” Now that hitters are taking a very aggressive hitting approach, I’m afraid they are downplaying the importance of their wickets and hiding behind this new strategy.
Test Match 100s are held in high esteem due to the tremendous responsibility and value each batsman has in defending/protecting his wicket.
My fear with this new all-out approach is that batsmen will devalue their wicket and hide behind this new tactic.—Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 3, 2022
In the recently concluded England-New Zealand test series, batting was seen in a very aggressive manner. England’s Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, while batting, made an impossible victory possible for their team. Rishabh Pant and Jonny Bairstow also scored centuries in the India v England Test being played at Edgbaston.
