'IPL stint behind Johnson's resurgence'

MUMBAI: Speed thrills and how. There was a time when world cricket witnessed a sharp decline in pace bowling after the likes of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Shane Bond and Shoaib Akhtar retired. But the recent exploits of Mitchell Johnson and Dale Steyn have rekindled interest in the game, especially Test cricket.

While Johnson was the architect of Australia's 5-0 Ashes sweep following a return to the Test fold after almost a year, Steyn, with his steep bounce and swing helped South Africa script a 231-run thrashing of the Aussies in the recently concluded second Test at Port Elizabeth.

"There's been a lot said about guys bowling spin, guys who are all-rounders and great batsmen... I do agree with all that, but we've seen recently that teams who succeed in Test cricket are the ones with good pace bowling. Steyn and Johnson are the best bowlers in the world right now," Lee told reporters on Tuesday.

Showering praise on the Proteas pacers, Lee said, "Morne Morkel and Steyn are the two guys who build the foundation for South Africa. It's incredible to think that they both can bowl over 150 kmph and still bowl line and length. No one likes facing pacers especially if they are as good and quick as Johnson. He's terrorised batsman across the world," said Lee, the owner of 718 international wickets.

Lee credited Johnson for the turnaround in Australia's fortunes after they suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat in India and also an Ashes whitewash in England, two seasons back.

"Mitch has been outstanding and has led the turnaround with his moustache. He has been fast and aggressive and has changed the face of Australian cricket," said Lee.

The former pacer felt the Indian Premier League (IPL) played a major role in Johnson's renaissance. "He played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL which provided him the opportunity to bowl fast and under pressure. He impressed everyone in Australia by bowling fast again," he analysed.

Lee maintained that if India have to do well in the 2015 World Cup, being jointly staged by Australia and New Zealand, they need to have good pacers in their squad. "India have very good batsmen and great spinners. But they need to find bowlers who can bowl at 140kmph. India need to really show they have dominating fast bowlers as the wickets will be fast and bouncy. It's not that Indians haven't produced fast bowlers," he said.

Stressing the need for lively wickets in India, Lee said, "If one bowls 160kmph on a flat wicket with absolutely no grass, it's going to do nothing. You need to try and take the pace off the ball or try to spin it on such wickets. So, you cannot succeed as a fast bowler if you play on such pitches," he explained.

Share it Please

Tweet

Shweta Pandey

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation.