England great Kevin Pietersen has sparked a new debate by claiming that batting today is “way easier” than it was 20-25 years ago, hinting at a decline in the quality of bowling in Test-playing nations. Pietersen’s comments on social media came a day after fellow England batter Joe Root surpassed Australia great Ricky Ponting to reach second place on the all-time list of Test run scorers. “Don’t shout at me, but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then!” Pietersen wrote on X on Saturday. Pietersen, who played 104 Tests, 136 ODIs, and 37 T20Is for England between 2005 and 2013, has been as outspoken with his views as he was flamboyant with the bat. The former right-handed batter, who scored 8,181 runs at an average of 47.28 with 23 centuries and 35 fifties in Test cricket, said batting was “twice as hard back then.” Don’t shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then! Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali,… — Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 26, 2025 Pietersen listed several bowlers from past eras and challenged his readers to name 10 contemporary bowlers who could be compared to them. “Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali, Curtley, Courtney, and the list could go on and on…” “I’ve named 22 above. Please name me 10 modern-day bowlers that can compare to the names above?” he added. Root, who took advantage of a wayward Indian bowling attack to score 150 on Day Three of the Manchester Test, is now behind only Sachin Tendulkar’s towering mark of 15,921 runs. (With PTI Inputs)