Batsman or Bowler: Who Is Mentally Stronger?

This is a question I doubt if I have encountered before, but I still feel lucky enough to ask: Who is mentally stronger—the bowler or the batsman?

The answer is simple:

The bowler, for the following reasons:

1) In a time when batsmen are having things changed for their betterment, from changing formats to power plays to flat pitches to better bats, the bowlers have adjusted to every difficulty.

Batsmen, at most, have to adjust to pitches and modify their game a bit for the different conditions. The bowlers are having to adjust to the game!

2) Batsmen in ODI and T20 are not given an absolute number of balls they are allowed to play. There is no fixed proportion out of the 300 and 120 balls respectively.

The bowlers are given a quota of overs to get wickets. If his quota is over, then he has no chance of getting wickets.

Think, would we ever be able to see all those centuries from Sachin, Ponting, and other greats if they were only allowed 10 overs to bat!

3) A batsman can have many successes in the form of fours and sixes. Though they are not absolute, they are minor victories that can be infinite.

For a bowler, a wicket is the only success. It doesn't matter if you bowl well and miss the outside edge many times; If the batsman plays you out, he wins.

Also, big victories such as five-fours and 10-fours happen fewer times than 50s and centuries. Overall, the batsmen can have more success.

A batsman can also pile up any number of runs, but a bowler can take a maximum of 10 wickets. Hardly fair in comparison.

4) When a batsman is not at the crease batting, he is in the pavilion. Or if his team is fielding, he only fields with the occasional short spell of bowling, but only if he has some talent as a bowler.

Not all batsmen do.

A bowler not only has to bowl while his team fields but has to do fielding between over breaks. That's multitasking.

5) Most importantly, not every batsman bowls, but every bowler bats and is expected to contribute well.

Whew! That is extreme multitasking.

Despite all this, it's the batsmen who get most of the credit in the game.

Apparently mental strength counts for nothing.