After a surprising batting failure by Delhi Capitals (DC), former South African bowler Dale Steyn raised a significant issue in modern batting techniques, noting that players are not adequately preparing to face hard lengths.
This became evident during DC’s substantial loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar quickly dismantled the batting lineup, taking six wickets in the first four overs and limiting DC to just 75 runs in 16.3 overs.
In response to the match, Steyn shared his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting a concerning trend among batters against strong seamers. He indicated that the challenge arises more from skill deficits than from fear. He mentioned bowlers like Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer, who are adept at exploiting this difficult length to challenge batsmen.
“Watching Buvi, Hazelwood, throw KG and Archer in there too, there’s a genuine fear from batters not because they’re scared, but they know exactly where these greats are going to bowl but don’t practice enough in that area to have answers,” he stated.
“The fear is technical skill, too deep into the tournament to change now, watch these bowlers continue to dominate. It’s called a HARD length for a reason,” he added.