‘Absolute nonsense’: Harsha Bhogle, Kevin Pietersen spar over legality of switch hit

It was an enthralling day of Test cricket between India and England in Hyderabad as Ollie Pope personified resilience, notching up his fifth Test century. He partnered with Ben Foakes as the duo added 112 runs for the sixth wicket, steering England through challenging moments and giving them something to believe at the end of day’s play in the first of the five-match series. Pope’s innings, dominated by sweeps, reverse sweeps and switch hits, befuddled the Indian spinners. During the commentary, Harsha Bhogle pointed out that while it made for enthralling viewing, it was not necessarily fair on the bowlers. As a response, Kevin Pietersen, who was another fine exponent of the reverse sweep and switch hits, disagreed with this assessment and even called it ‘rubbish’. He said: “It’s 3:25 local time and I’m off downstairs because you’re talking rubbish.” However, after the day’s play, Harsha Bhogle gave a proper explanation of what he thought should be the right way to look at things: “Absolute nonsense! If you want to switch hit, allow a bowler to bowl with both hands. Because something is difficult, it doesn’t make it acceptable. The bowler has to inform the umpire if he wants to bowl left-handed, the batsman must have the same condition. May the debate continue.”

Absolute nonsense! 😄 😄. If you want to switch hit allow a bowler to bowl with both hands. Because something is difficult, it doesn't make it acceptable. The bowler has to inform the umpire if he wants to bowl left handed, the batsman must have the same condition. May the debate… https://t.co/JcXTJRdQhe

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 27, 2024

This is not the first time, Harsha Bhogle has labelled the switch hit as unfair to the bowlers. Back in 2020, he agreed with Ian Chappell in the switch-hit debate after the former Australia captain asked the ICC to make the shot ‘illegal’. Chappell made this statement when Australian batters Glenn Maxwell and David Warner had employed these strokes extensively against India in an ODI series. Chappell told Wide World of Sports, “It’s very simple. Maxwell hit a couple of (switch-hit) shots and Warner did… All you’ve got to say is that if the batsman changes the order of his hands or his feet (as the bowler runs in), then it’s an illegal shot.” Back to the game, at the end of the day’s play, Pope’s unbeaten 148 became the highest score by a visiting batsman in the second innings against India in India. The England batters had a clear plan and they stuck to it - it started with Ben Duckett who employed a whole host of sweeps and reverse sweeps and it was then taken up by Ollie Pope as Rohit Sharma struggled to keep the run flow in check. On Day 4, England look forward to consolidating their lead and posing a challenging total for the Indian side as the pitch appears to favour spinners.