BHUBANESWAR: Fast bowling legend Jeff Thomson favours Virat Kohli’s team to win the Test series Down Under. In his words, India would “steamroll” Australia. Other than the prowess of the Indians, the weakened state of the Aussies prompted such thoughts.
“You (India) have got a solid team. The batters are good, you have improved as a side and the bowlers are beautiful. You guys should win. If you play hard like Kohli does, there is no reason why you shouldn’t steamroll the Aussies,” he said on Friday.
Thommo, as he is known in the fraternity, felt the suspension of the ‘big two’ makes Australia a weaker side. “In the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia is a very average batting side,” he said during a session on “The death of Fast Bowler” at the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival.
Flaying the Australian batsmen’s poor show against Pakistan recently, Thomson said, “They lack technique. Their footwork is terrible and all they want is to smack the ball out of the park which is due to playing too many T20s and ODIs.”
He also felt that the 12-month ban on Smith and Warner was too harsh.
“The ball-tampering incident is an absolute embarrassment for Australian cricket. But nobody should be slapped with such a long ban,” said the 68-year-old, a veteran of 51 Tests and 50 ODIs. He said he initially heard the two were banned for six months.
“But our Prime Minister rang up and said six months is not enough. I want them banned for 12.”
According to him, Kohli is emerging as a brilliant player. However, for him, the five best batsmen in Tests would be Brian Lara, Vivian Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell and Barry Richards apart from Gary Sobers and Don Bradman.
Known for his unbridled aggression as a bowler, Thomson minced no words in his criticism of commercialisation of the game which he felt is causing the death of fast bowling. Blaming T20s for a decline in quality of cricket, he said the game has become all about money.
“What all players want now is to smack the ball. The boundaries have shrunk, the pitches are flat, the bats are huge. All the changes that have been made to suit the shorter format of the game favour batsmen,” he said.
Cricket has become cruel for the bowlers.
“Unlike our days, a mishit now goes for six. A bowler can’t do anything about it. Kookaburra balls used today don’t swing. All these kill pacers.”