Very less bowlers in T20 cricket who claim wickets: Sehwag suggests batters gift their wicket in shortest format

​Former India batter Virender Sehwag said that there are very less bowlers who go for wickets as most of them try to contain runs and bowl defensively. Sehwag said that in T20s especially, most batters gift wickets instead of bowlers taking them.
India bowlers

Former India batter Virender Sehwag said that there are very less bowlers who go for wickets as most of them try to contain runs and bowl defensively

Photo : AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Virender Sehwag said that T20 cricket lacks bowlers who pick wickets at will
  • Sehwag said that bowlers focus mainly on containing runs rather than taking wickets
  • The former India batter was of a view that batters gift wickets rather than bowlers taking them
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag talked about the paucity of bowlers in T20 cricket, who take wickets at will. Sehwag said that there are only a handful of bowlers in the shortest format, who actually take wickets as according to him batters gift them rather than it being the other way around.
Speaking after the India-Pakistan Super four match in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, Sehwag said that bowlers bowl defensively, to contain runs more than taking wickets.
"There are very less bowlers in T20 cricket that claim wickets. Usually, it is the batter who gifts his wicket by either slogging or even gets run out. Very few bowlers who can get wicket by bowling yorkers. Bowlers, out of fear of getting hit, lose the confidence of getting wickets by bowling in the good areas," the former opener said during an interaction on Cricbuzz.
"There are very few bowlers who are capable of taking wickets at will. Everyone prefers those kinds of bowlers, who take wickets at the right time," Sehwag added.
Sehwag spoke after Indian bowlers went the distance against Pakistan. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya, the three frontline bowlers all went for 10 or more runs per over as Pakistan batters just kept swinging, especially the left-handed Mohammad Nawaz. Nawaz, after being promoted to No. 4 to tackle the Indian leg-spinning duo of Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi killed the game with his quickfire knock of 42 off just 20 balls.
Sehwag said that more than Mohammad Rizwan, who played a magnificent hand of 71, it was Nawaz's knock that provided the momentum to Pakistan's innings. "Nawaz helped take the pressure off Rizwan. Had a set batter got out while trying to increase the rate, it would have been difficult for two new batters at the crease. During that partnership, there were a couple of boundaries in each over. So Rizwan never felt the pressure of scoring quickly. Such a partnership is ideal for all formats," Sehwag added.
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