The ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been full of fireworks on and off the field, with players engaging in heated conversations and India visibly looking unhappy with the condition of the balls.
One such incident between India and the umpires happened during England's first innings in the Lord's Test, where India's second new ball went out of shape within 10 overs.
India had been enjoying the phase of play when the ball went out of shape but were left visibly upset with the condition of the replaced ball.
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Mohammed Siraj, who took a six-wicket haul in the innings, was caught on the stump mic questioning the switch: “This is 10-overs old ball? Seriously?”
Now, an Indian team official has weighed in, claiming the replacement ball gave England an unfair advantage and revealed more information on how the balls are selected during the series.
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The second new ball in the England innings was taken at the 80.2 over mark during Akash Deep's over but had to be replaced at 90.4.
Between 80.2 and 90.4, the Indian bowlers bowled with their tail up and Jasprit Bumrah scalped prized wickets of Ben Stokes, Joe Root, and Chris Woakes, while Siraj and Deep looked impressive.
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However, in an interview to the Indian Express, an anonymous team member revealed that the changed ball was at least 30 overs old and took all the advantage away from India.
"At Lord’s, after about 10 overs, the Dukes ball lost its shape, something that has been happening so often in the series. The ball failed to pass through the rings that the umpires carry on the field to check if the ball is uniformly spherical."
"However, the umpires didn’t have a ball that was 10 overs old, so the Indian team at a crucial moment of the match got a ball that was 30-35 overs old. Check the scoreboard to see how the game changed after that. The bowlers lost their swing and England scored with ease," an Indian team official said.
Replacement ball backfires on India and gives England advantage
After England had only managed 44/3 after the second new ball till the change, they got a whopping 100/3 in the next 19.5 overs, as scoring became relatively easier off the softer ball.
"When you ask for a ball change, you aren’t told about the age of the replacement you will be getting. At Lord’s, we weren’t told that the replacement would be 30 to 35 overs old. If we were told, we would have continued with the deformed ball that was used for 10 overs. The ICC needs to intervene. This rule needs to be changed," he added.
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India was later made aware that, under ICC playing conditions, umpires are not required to match the number of overs bowled when replacing a disfigured ball.
Instead, they must choose a ball that most closely resembles the damaged one in appearance, a process that excludes any input from the bowling team.
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The Indian management have reportedly conveyed their concern about the ball-change protocols with the ICC match officials and asked the ICC to intervene and change this rule after they went on to lose the match by a heartbreaking margin of 22 runs.