Michael Holding says Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers would have fallen short against his pace

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding has recently said that Team India opener Rohit Sharma and former South African cricketer AB de Villiers will find playing their natural shots difficult against bowlers with 'real pace'. Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers are two of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket, who can take apart bowling attacks on any day.

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Michael Holding on how Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers will fare against pure pace

During the Instagram Live session with Nikhil Naz, Michael Holding was asked about what would his strategy have been, had he bowled in today's times to players like Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers. Michael Holding, in his reply, said that they (Sharma and deVilliers) might find it a challenge to play their natural game had he bowled to them since his pace itself is more than troublesome.

While referring to Dale Steyn, Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, Michael Holding said that if Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers can play shots against their pace, then he will have to start to worry about what he is going to do while bowling to those two cricketers. He further said that with the kind of pace he used to bowl during his playing days, he wouldn't be worried about those shots being played.

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Michael Holding on ICC's decision to ban saliva 

Apart from talking about Rohit Sharma and de Villiers, the former West Indies pacer also shared his thoughts on ICC banning the use of saliva on cricket ball due to COVID-19. Michael Holding said that banning the use of saliva will not be a big issue for bowlers while they are bowling. Talking about bowlers requiring to adjust to the new rule, Holding said that he feels players may require an adequate amount of time to get used to the new rule.

Also Read: ODI Cricket Earns Money For ICC, Not Going Anywhere: Holding

Michael Holding on the future of IPL and the T20 World Cup

During the Instagram live session, Michael Holding also spoke about Indian Premier League (IPL) and T20 World Cup slated to take place in Australia later this year. He said that replacing the T20 World Cup with the IPL is not what the ICC must be thinking of. However, if the T20 World Cup doesn’t go ahead as per schedule, then the BCCI has the authority to push for playing the IPL during that period. 

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(IMAGE: ROHIT SHARMA/ AB DE VILLIERS/ INSTAGRAM)