WI iconic pacer Curtly Ambrose picks three modern-day greats he’d would love to bowl to

NEW DELHI: Iconic West Indies pacer Curtly Ambrose has picked three of the ‘Fab Four’ as the present generation batters he would love to bowl to and named one Pakistan great as one of his favourite fast bowlers.

Ambrose was considered one of the most decorated and lethal pacers in cricket history. His 405 Test wickets in 98 matches boast the prowess that he had with the ball in hand. He brought the curtains down on his international career with 630 wickets at an average of 22.11.

The dominance he exerted with bouncers that passed whiskers away from the opposition batter’s face was one of his key highlights in the era of the 1990s.

Love how Sir Curtly Ambrose explained how he judges greatness of a player.

“Virat Kohli would’ve dominated any era….Viv, Sachin, Ponting and Kohli belongs to same category they would’ve dominated any era ” pic.twitter.com/1iW2fFcN4I

— Gaurav (@Melbourne__82) August 19, 2024

Ambrose, who made the top batters of that era dance to his tunes, named three cricketing stalwarts, Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, and Joe Root, as the players he would have loved to bowl to. “Virat, Smith, Root”, Ambrose named during a media press conference.

While the 1990s and the era before were ruled by bowlers, the present generation belongs to the batters. The likes of ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and many more changed the way viewers saw cricket.

While naming the Sultan of Swing, Wasim Akram, as one of his favourite fast bowlers, Ambrose addressed bowlers not being celebrated enough in the present era.

“Yes, I feel so sometimes. I have been in cricket for so long. Most of the time, if you ask someone their favourite cricketer, they would name a batter. I have played some great matches with them, and I admire them. But as a former fast bowler, I will lean towards the bowlers. Wasim Akram is one of my favourite fast bowlers”, Ambrose added.

Ambrose also had a piece of advice for the budding talent that is slowly making their way into the world of cricket and said, “I would like to advise them to work on their skill set and play more red-ball cricket. It is easier to transform your red ball game and form into T20s. Most of the players doing well in T20s have played red-ball cricket and understand batsmanship. I would like to advise them to play more red-ball cricket and understand the skills, batsmanship, and construction of an innings”, (ANI)