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The Dukes ball have become a centre of controversy in England for losing its shape as soon as the 11th over was bowled. The lack of swing on Day 2 at Lords's frustrated the Indian bowlers. The ball was changed as it failed the ring test but the replacement was not as potent as Shubman Gill had expected, leading to heated conversations with on-field umpires. As a result only 75 overs bowled on Day 2. After the day's play, centurion Joe Root reflected on the ball change stoppages eating into the overs that needed to be bowled.
While the Managing Director of Dukes, Dilip Jajodia, blamed record-breaking summer in England and powerful bats for multifold deterioration of the hand-stitched ball, England fast bowler Stuart Broad stated that it is an issue experienced for half a decade.
Root offered a solution to the problem. He feels that as many as three changes should be allowed, similar to the DRS. He also criticised the visitors for asking too often to change the ball. He accused Gill-led India of wasting time and slowing the pace of the game.
"I personally think that if you want to keep getting the ball changed then each team gets three challenges every 80 overs and that's it, if you want to get it changed. But the rings have to be the right size, not too big," Root said in the press conference as quoted by Cricbuzz.
"That would be a nice way of compromising and saying it's not all on the manufacturer. Sometimes these things happen but you can't just keep asking and wasting time and slowing the game down at the same time."
Root blames weather for Dukes ball's unusually rapid wear and tear
Root also talked about the unusually dry summer which is being considered as one of the reasons for the fastened deterioration of the Dukes ball. He also took a dig at Indian bowlers, saying that players need to be dynamic and skillful.
"I don't know the ins and outs of how they make it [the Dukes ball]I do know that they're handmade so you're never going to get two balls exactly the same. I do think this summer has been a bit of an anomaly for us. We're not used to getting this much sun and this much heat and squares as hard and outfields as firm so whether that plays a part or not [I don't know]," he said.
"It's one of those things where if the balls are going out of shape, you change them and you don't make a big deal out of it. I don't think it's the end of the world. I think it adds a different dynamic to the game and you've got to be skilful enough to adapt to the changes, whether it stops swinging or starts swinging or does a little bit more."
Game delicately poised between India and England
Root's century and half-centuries from Jaamie Smith and Brydon Carse helped England post 387 in the first innings. In reply, India lost three wickets but reduced the deficit to 242 runs. Opener KL Rahul returned unbeaten for a half-century with Rishabh Pant.
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