Reece Topley names the toughest batter he has bowled to [Exclusive Interview]

Reece Topley has established himself as a reliable bowler and regular feature across the global T20 franchise circuit. The former England international has seen his career plagued by injuries, despite which he has been regarded as a handy strike bowler, with a repertoire of deceptive slower balls and accurate yorkers, combined with his left-arm angle and ability to move the ball both ways. He has played 65 matches for England across the white-ball formats, taking 80 wickets, and has played 222 T20 matches, taking 269 wickets.

Topley, a regular feature across international leagues, has participated in the IPL, playing for two different teams - Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians, respectively. Across his IPL and international experience, he has played against some of the finest Indian stars. Of the bunch, Topley named former India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav as the batter he found most difficult to bowl to.

Topley described how difficult he found bowling to Suryakumar on multiple occasions, such as his T20I hundred against England at Trent Bridge and the clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium. He also named rising star Naman Dhir as another batter he struggled to bowl at in the nets. He also named Suryakumar as a possible captain for a combined XI between India and England.

Having played in franchise leagues across the world, Topley named crowds and the atmosphere in India among the most frenetic and energetic for playing cricket. He outlined the differences between playing in India, playing in South Africa, where the fans see the game as a day out, and Australia, where the quality of cricket is paramount.

In an exclusive chat with CricTracker, Topley revealed the details of bowling to Suryakumar and the differences in crowd atmospheres in India, Australia and South Africa.

Excerpts from the interview

Who is the toughest Indian batter you've ever bowled to, in a match or even in the nets?

"It's a good question, I've never bowled against him in a game but Naman Dhir was always very good in the nets, he would play some outrageous shots. In a match I would probably have to say, it's a good question, I'd say Sky [Suryakumar Yadav] was pretty good, I played against him in two games where, you know, I think one of them was his 100 at Trent Bridge and, you know, India were almost out of the game and he played an unbelievable knock but to be on the losing side and get close and then there was another game against RCB in Mumbai and he was hitting it to all parts and, you know, when you come up against a player like that on a juicy wicket with a small total on the board as well, he took it away from us quite quickly."

You've now played franchise cricket in India, South Africa, and Australia — which fanbase brings the most chaotic energy on match day?

"I mean energy is for sure it's India, I think it's unmatched with the matchday experience of the Indian Premier League obviously but, you know, culturally it's just so different in all three franchise competitions, India's very fanatic and loud, South Africa it's more like a, you know, people do show up but I feel like it's more of a sort of day out for people, not specifically supporting teams or players etc and then Australia have a pretty good fan base and the most probably incredible stadiums to play the cricket and the brand of cricket is probably quite, I think, the coolest so they've all got their things that they bring to the party but, you know, when you're talking about the energy on matchdays it's obviously India."

If you had to pick one Indian and one English captain to lead a combined World XI, who gets the armband?

"Well, I'd give it to Sky probably but I know that he, I don't think he's captain or at the moment for India. So that's interesting itself. I mean, if I can have that as the answer, I'd take that."