Former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed India skipper Shubman Gill over the Dukes ball controversy that made headlines during the second day of the Lord's Test. The controversy erupted after Mohammed Siraj asked the umpire to change the ball. Following the protests, the umpire did change the ball, however the Indian team wasn't happy at all with the new ball that they got.
Gill was involved in a heated exchange with the umpire after the ball change and once again asked him to change the ball. However, this time his request fell on deaf ears. The play went on and England batters started to dominate with the ball providing no help to the Indian bowlers. Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse formed a brilliant 84-run partnership as England went on to post a respectable total of 387 in their first innings.
Hussain slammed Gill over the ball change
Hussain wasn't a fan of the way Gill reacted to the ball change and also criticized the team for asking for a ball change in the first place even though it was providing their bowlers with a lot of movement.
"It was a very odd ball change from India. There are two reasons you change a cricket ball. One, because the umpires think it's gone out of shape. Or two, because the bowling attack and the captain realise that the ball's doing nothing, and you try and get the umpires to change it. The ball was doing everything this morning. The ball they had for 63 deliveries was zipping round corners," Hussain said on Sky Sports.
"Bumrah was going through a magic spell. Siraj at the other end was having catches dropped. The ball carried through to the wicketkeeper. It was doing everything. It was doing more than at any stage in the Test match. I cannot work out why you'd want to change a ball that was doing this much. 63 deliveries of the ball zipping around. Not only did they want it changed, but the captain got really animated when they didn't change it. I thought it was one of the most bizarre decisions," he added.
Hussain further stated that India should have sticked to the old ball which was providing them with a lot of help especially to Jasprit Bumrah, who had picked up three big wickets during the first few overs of the day.
"You've got a ball in your hand that's doing a lot. We all know these Dukes balls are variable. He's still on at the umpires about the ball change. Now maybe he's having a word with the umpires about this ball isn't as good as the last one. But that's the problem with trying to change a ball, is that if you've got a good one, stick with it," Hussain stated.
"I thought it was a really odd thing, A, for India to do, and B, then to get really animated, and C, now to say, well, the ball we got is no good. Don't change the good one. Quite extraordinary. Change the ball, as you say, that was doing everything for Jasprit Bumrah," he added.
Meanwhile, India finished the second day on 145/3 with KL Rahul unbeaten on 55 and Rishabh Pant batting on 19. They are still trailing the hosts by 242 runs and it will be interesting to see if the Indian batters will be able to take the all-important lead as the action resumes on Day 3.