The second morning of the Lord’s Test belonged to Jasprit Bumrah. Bowling from the Nursery End, the fast bowler was breathing fire that burned down England’s batting royalty. Two incoming deliveries accounted for Ben Stokes and Joe Root, while Chris Woakes perished for a golden duck to an away-goer. At 271/7, the hosts were staring at a subpar first innings total, when the ball change happened.
Just 46 deliveries into the day, with the second new ball only 10.3 overs old, Mohammed Siraj felt that the red Dukes had lost its shape. A brief chat with Akash Deep ensued before the ball was taken to umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat. The ball failed to pass the measuring hoops test and a replacement was asked for. Bumrah was fielding on the other side of the ground and he wasn’t part of the conversation. Why did India push for a ball change, when it was doing a lot, was anyone’s guess. On Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain criticised the decision, but we would come to that later.
It was bizarre that a newish ball was replaced with an older one, which looked 30 overs old. It prompted Shubman Gill to channel his inner Sunny Deol — tongue firmly in cheek — and remonstrate angrily with the umpires. On the stump mic, Siraj was heard saying: “This is a 10-over-old ball? Seriously?” Not having a like-for-like in a Test match defied logic.
The replacement ball lasted only 48 deliveries before it had to be changed again. Stuart Broad, the former England fast bowler, was aghast and posted on X (formerly Twitter): “The cricket ball should be like a fine wicket keeper. Barely noticed. We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue & being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. Feels like it’s been 5 years now.
Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10.”
Both England and India have had issues with the Dukes ball in the ongoing series, but coming back to India’s decision to change the ball, Hussain said: “In that first hour Bumrah was unplayable; they had a Dukes ball that was doing something. Why would you change a ball that is doing something to a random ball? Why take the gamble? I thought that was a bizarre thing to do.”
England added 116 runs for the last three wickets to wrest the initiative and maybe, India’s decision to change the ball played a part in the home team’s recovery. That said, as regards the replacement ball, not having a like-for-like was unfair on the touring side.
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