The Dukes ball, which has lengthy been used for Test matches in England, has drawn flak throughout the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy sequence.
With the circumstances in England unusually dry this summer season, the bowlers have needed to put in the exhausting yards to assert wickets on flat decks.
Both groups repeatedly requested a change of ball in the first two Tests, stating that the Dukes ball was getting unusually smooth fairly quickly. While the producers defended their product, India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant admitted that the ‘de-shaping’ of the ball has been irritating for the gamers.
Irritating
“In this series, I have seen the ball getting deformed too much. It’s irritating for the players because every ball plays in a different way,” Pant mentioned on the eve of the third Test at Lord’s.
“When it [the ball] becomes softer, sometimes it’s not doing too much. But as soon as you change the ball, it starts to do enough. So as a batter, you’ve got to keep adjusting to it. But at the same time, I feel it’s not good for cricket eventually.”
Earlier, India captain Shubman Gill, too, had raised issues over the high quality of the Dukes ball, and on Wednesday, he obtained the backing of his English counterpart Ben Stokes.
“We’re not the only ones — whenever touring teams come here, there have been issues with the ball going soft and out of shape. I’m not even sure the rings we use are the standard Dukes rings,” Stokes mentioned.
“It’s not ideal, but you deal with it. If you think the ball is out of shape, you ask the umpire to check it, and if it passes through the ring, you just crack on. If it doesn’t — once it’s sufficiently out of shape — you get a new one. It was definitely an issue at Edgbaston, and it’s something all bowling attacks have had to contend with”.
