Rishabh Pant faced sanction for his animated reaction after on-field umpires denied his ball change request.
The ongoing England vs India Test series has produced high-scoring encounters in the two matches so far. After drubbing the Headingley Test despite five individual hundreds, India outplayed England in the Edgbaston Test by 336 runs. It is India’s biggest victory in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. However, despite the historic win, new Test captain Shubman Gill voiced his frustration over the Dukes ball.
“Even more than the pitch, the ball is going soft and going out of shape very quickly. If you know there are only 20 overs of any help, and then you have to spend the rest of the day on the defensive, thinking only about how to stop the runs, then the game loses its essence,” said Gill in the post-match press conference.
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Both teams were seen making frequent ball change requests to the umpires during the series. In the Headingley Test, India made their first request in the 14th over, followed by several appeals. Rishabh Pant was reprimanded by the ICC for showing dissent over the umpire’s decision. The umpires accepted the request in the 28th over, leading to Ravindra Jadeja’s jubilant celebration. The hosts complained about the same from the 16th over in the second Test. Their request was accepted 40 overs later.
Dilip Jajodia, a Dukes factory owner in England, advocated for the ball in a chat with Mumbai Mirror.
Ideally, teams can request a second new ball after every 80 overs in the innings in Test cricket. The request can be made to the on-field umpires in case of a change in shape or weight of the ball. But Jajodia believes the ICC should rethink and allow the change of the ball in 60 or 70 overs.
“They somehow expect the ball to stay hard until the 79.5th over, which, I’m afraid, it is not possible. No two cowhides are the same. So, there’s a bit of nature involved. The ball is not a machine-made product where every unit is identical. The ball is supposed to deteriorate; it’s not a rock. As far as we, the manufacturers, are concerned, the ball is not being made to fail. We have not lowered our standards or changed our processes,” he explained the reasons behind his appeal.
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Furthermore, Jajodia feels it’s a captain or player’s habit to put pressure on umpires when they struggle to pick wickets.
“It has become fashionable to criticise the ball. Nobody talks about the flatness of the wicket or the form and skill of the bowlers. The Dukes ball is known to be bowler-friendly, and now that five or six centuries are being scored in an innings, everyone is blaming the ball. When players get ducks, it’s the pitch. When bowlers don’t get wickets, it’s the ball,” said Jajodia.
In 2018, India’s most successful Test captain, Virat Kohli, voiced in support of the Dukes ball after the Rajkot Test against the West Indies. Notably, India would use the SG ball while Kookabura balls are preferred in Australia for red-ball cricket.
“To have a ball scuffed up in five overs is not something that we have seen before. The quality of the ball used to be quite high before and I don’t understand the reason why it’s gone down. A Dukes ball is still good quality, Kookaburra is still good quality – whatever limitations a Kookaburra might have, the quality is never compromised. The Dukes, I think, is the most suited ball for Test match cricket and if there’s a situation, I would vouch for that to be used all over the world because of the consistency of the ball and how the bowlers are in the game at any stage because the seam is so hard and upright,” Kohli had said.
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