After Delhi Capitals suffered a dramatic collapse, South African fast-bowling icon Dale Steyn pointed to a specific problem he believes modern batters are facing: they are not doing enough work against the kind of \u201chard\u201d lengths that top pace bowlers consistently hit. The issue was laid bare on Monday night in IPL action, where Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismantled the Delhi batting order early, firing the ball with discipline and pace to expose how difficult those lengths can be when batters haven\u2019t fine-tuned their preparation for them. Steyn said the batters may not be intimidated in the old sense, but they still don\u2019t practice often enough in the exact areas that bowlers like Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar, Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer aim at.<\/p>\n
Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar struck in the opening surge, taking six wickets in the first four overs and setting the tone for Royal Challengers Bengaluru\u2019s rout of Delhi. The end result was emphatic: Delhi Capitals were bundled out for just 75 in 16.3 overs, a total that underscored how quickly the match slipped away once the batting plan failed under pressure.<\/p>\n
Steyn, reflecting on what he saw from the bowlers\u2019 ability to land the ball in the same threatening channel, argued that the gap is not simply fear\u2014it is preparation and technical readiness. \u201cWatching Buvi, Hazelwood, throw KG and Archer in there too, there\u2019s a genuine fear from batters not because they scared, but they know exactly where these greats are going to bowl but don\u2019t practice enough in that area to have answers,\u201d Steyn wrote on X. He added that the challenge is rooted in technique and that it is too late in a tournament to suddenly fix what is missing. \u201cThe fear is technical skill, too deep into the tournament to change now, watch these bowlers continue to dominate. Its called a HARD length for a reason\u2026,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Herschelle Gibbs, another former South African batter, supported Steyn\u2019s view from a batting standpoint. Gibbs suggested that batters are not taking the initiative often enough\u2014specifically, they are not advancing down the pitch with the intent needed to disrupt these bowlers and force them away from their preferred lines and lengths. \u201cNo batter keen to run at them to get them off their lengths,\u201d Gibbs replied.<\/p>\n
Delhi\u2019s innings mirrored that diagnosis. They had slumped to 8 for six at one point, and although they managed to inch forward, the damage had already been done. By the end of the six-over powerplay, Delhi reached only 13 for six, which ended up being the lowest-ever powerplay score in IPL history.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the season, Delhi Capitals had shown the other side of the coin in their previous match, posting 264\/2 against Punjab Kings. However, they were unable to protect that strong total, and the contrasting fortunes continued when Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar\u2019s early breakthroughs ensured Delhi\u2019s collapse turned into a chase they never truly had a chance to control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After Delhi Capitals suffered a dramatic collapse, South African fast-bowling icon Dale Steyn pointed to a specific problem he believes modern batters are facing: they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Dale Steyn on IPL Batters: Tackle Hard Lengths","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Dale Steyn says IPL batters must face \u201chard lengths\u201d more often as top pacers like Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar expose early collapses.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n