Cricket Batters Told to “Suck it Up” Amid Challenging Pitches at T20 World Cup
South African middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen believes that batters must adapt to the tougher bowling conditions on offer at the ongoing T20 World Cup in New York. After South Africa’s comprehensive win over Sri Lanka, where the visitors were bowled out for a paltry 77, Klaasen acknowledged that the pitches have become more favorable for the bowlers compared to the high-scoring matches seen during the recent IPL.
“At the IPL, no one really complained about 270 plays 270. Now the bowlers are getting conditions a little bit more in their favour, so I think it’s just getting the balance right,” Klaasen said from New York, where South Africa will play three of their four group matches.
The South African batter believes that batters must “suck it up” and adapt their game to the challenging surfaces, rather than expecting flat tracks that facilitate run-scoring.
Former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower has been critical of the pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, describing them as “bordering on dangerous” due to the inconsistent bounce. Klaasen, however, sees it as part of the game, stating, “Sometimes you get the wickets too flat, and now it’s just as bad and you need to suck it up a little bit.”
Despite the challenging conditions, Klaasen is confident that South Africa can fare better, having gained experience playing in these types of surfaces. “We’ve got experience playing in these types of conditions now, so we just need to go back into the memory bank and take some responsibility that it might not be a wicket that we can just tee off and hit boundaries,” he said.
The South African batter also provided an interesting perspective after visiting the nearby Yankee Stadium, acknowledging that the boundaries there are significantly larger than what cricketers are used to. “That’s quite a big hit. We worked it out and it’s 120 metres. It’s a long hit, but we as batters had a nice chat and we reckon we can give it a go. We will find a batting cage somewhere and try to see what we can do.”
As South Africa prepare to face the Netherlands on Saturday, Klaasen’s comments highlight the need for batters to adapt to the varying conditions at the T20 World Cup, where a balance between bat and ball is crucial for producing engaging and entertaining cricket.
🔗 Source