West Indies fast bowling great Andy Roberts reckons critics are wrong to believe only Indians are suspect against the Short ball
Westu00a0Indiesu00a0fast bowlingu00a0great Andy Robertsu00a0reckons criticsu00a0u00a0are wrong to believe only Indians are suspect against the Short ball
The failure of the Indian batting line-up in the second one-dayer at Sabina Park has again kicked off talk about the Indian batsmen's perceived weakness against pace bowling short and the moving ball.u00a0
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Gautam Gambhir and Co were targeted by their opponents with short stuff during the ICC World Twenty20 championship while Ravi Rampaul and Jerome Taylor cut through the Indian line-up with the moving ball in the second one-dayer.
MS Dhoni's batsmen made for an ungainly sight at the World T20 as they hopped around against short pitch bowling, especially against the West Indies and England, to crash out in the Super Eight stage.
Unfair to Indians
But surprising as it may seem, the bowler with the most frightening bouncer of all time, Andy Roberts believes it is unfair to single out the Indian batsmen for their poor skill against pace bowling.
Analysing India's embarrassing performance on Sunday when they were reduced to 82 for eight by West Indies' pacers Rampaul and Taylor, Roberts said: "It's not the Indians alone. Every batsman in the world has a problem against the moving ball. It would be really unfair for me to pass judgment on the Indian boys.
"The ball was moving around and the pitch hadu00a0 some moisture. I would not lay any blame on the Indians for the earlier part. Maybe the only thing they could have done was be more cautious in their approach." But for a 101-run ninth-wicket stand between MS Dhoni and RP Singh, it would have been a complete rout for India, who eventually totalled 188 which the West Indies chased with eight wickets to spare.
Great batsmen, who faced Roberts in his prime, reckon the West Indian spearhead of the 1970s was the one with the most ferocious short ball.
Global problem
Reacting to the criticism about the weakness of Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja against bowling aimed at their body, the West Indies' great said: "It's not the Indians but a lot of batsmen across the world can't play short pitch bowling any more. Even the West Indian batsmen are not good at playing short pitch bowling," he added.
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