1. You don't want me talking baseball here and that's fair enough. But the comments above are the blind leading the blind.
As an exchange student 40 years ago, I watched a county match at Trentbridge. On the bus back to the dorm, I came across an American classmate and started explaining what I saw. A Brit seated behind us started laughing out loud. Imagine one American trying to explain cricket to another! Hilarious.
Needless to say, were I to discuss baseball, I would address the thousands of things you either misapprehend or haven't gathered from your experience of watching a few random innings from some random games hosted by announcers who might or might not have more information than you do.
I won't get into which ball is harder to hit, but I can say the job of hitting a baseball is very nuanced by being very, very situation specific, especially in as much as a set batting rotation means anyone at bat faces 5 or 6 different variables at work, such as who and how many on on base where they are, how many outs there are, the ball and strike count, who is left on the other team's bench, if there is an uncovered area of the field, and so on. Each hitter has to handle that and have the mindset to handle the thousands of permutations that can come up to exploit or defend that particular circumstance. Situations are so complex and variable from pitch to pitch that teams typically signal varying strategy into the batters and runners on every pitch.
The defense does likewise. Defensive positioning is at least as complex as cricket, and perhaps more so because the distances require coordinated relays on throws and backups that are case specific to the number of outs, the score, and the location of any runners, and it is further complicated by players on each side intentionally and inadvertently crashing into each other. Obviously the complexity of 125 foot throws around the infield to get outs as multiple runners bear down on multiple bases is extraordinary.
Not to mention the burden on pitchers to get guys out though they have been trained in 5,000 and 10,000 plate appearances since they were 8 years old to hit 95 mph pitches and anticipate everything else.
Cricket, not so much.
There's the condition of the pitch, the ball, the outs, the score and so on, but I've yet to see anyone say how X batting or bowling with 3 outs in the innings is really, really different than X batting or bowling with 4 or 5 outs, other things being equal. Is it just pressure?. If so, why should a pro feel pressure? There isn't any sacrificing yourself for the team. There's taking risks, but no productive use for being out otherwise. If there's some different dynamic at work, the announcers have not discussed it. I can tell you why baseball batter Y has a completely different mindset and is looking to do something different when there is a runner on 3rd with one out as opposed to two outs as opposed to no one on base, or why pitcher Z has thrown a specific type of pitch if he is in specific danger of walking an opposing batter, or why he might want to walk a specific batter.
So far, if the issue of varying mindsets determined by a huge array of variables at work is also true for cricket, it has not presented itself to me.
2. How rigorously is the 450 per match and 90 per day over limitation followed? In the India vs. Australia match overnight, Day 4 was halted before there was a total fo 360 overs played. If Australia is limited to 90 today anyway, it has a better chance of a draw if it can stall, but a reduced chance of a win if it doesn't have enough overs to play the match to a finish.
3. I understand that bowlers are limited in the sense they have to conform to a single speed and style during an over. But do they have the precise nature of the ball called by the team so the wicket keeper and other fielders can anticipate what comes off the bat? Typically a pitcher's exact pitch for speed, break and location will be directed by the team, especially if a defensive shift is going to be employed or if the defense anticipate attempts to steal bases.