India vs England | BCCI asks ball makers to recheck high quality after complaints from Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin

Image Source : TWITTER/BCCI Virat Kohli
The Indian cricket board has requested Sanspareils Greenlands (SG), producers of the cricket ball getting used within the ongoing Test sequence, to look into its high quality following complaints from India captain Virat Kohli and his teammates, together with its seam not lasting lengthy sufficient.
“The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had asked us to look into the matter. We told them we will assess. Since some players have complained about the pitch [Ishant Sharma had termed it a ‘road’, R Ashwin also hinted at pitch being the cause of seam tearing], we will have to assess the ball’s reaction on such wickets also,” Paras Anand, SG Marketing Director, instructed IANS on Wednesday.

“We told them we will do R&D (Research & Development) and take into account strength, durability, all those factors. We will definitely find something which can endure. We will look for a material [for stitching the seam] which can endure a hard and abrasive surface also as well as the impact,” he stated.
As of now, the second Test, starting on Saturday, will happen with the identical batch of balls as was the primary Test since there may be little or no time between the 2 Tests — simply three days. MA Chidambaram Stadium is internet hosting each matches.
Kohli had, on Tuesday, questioned the standard of balls, saying that it has been a unbroken drawback.
“The quality of balls, honestly, wasn’t something we were pleased to see, because that has been the issue in the past as well. Just for the ball to get destroyed in 60 overs is not something that you experience as a Test side and it is not something any Test side could be prepared for,” stated Kohli within the post-match media interplay.
Ashwin complained that the ball’s seam was not lasting.
“It was very bizarre for us. I have never seen an SG ball tear through the seam like that. It could well be a combination of how hard the pitch was on the first two days. Even in the second innings after the 35th or the 40th over, the seam started to peel off,” he had stated after the fourth day of the primary Test. Interesingly, Ashwin took six wickets on the identical day.

Kohli had complained concerning the ball over two years in the past as properly. Anand stated that the 2 points Kohli complained about are totally different from the present criticism.
“The last time they said it would soft and get scuffed up early. The issues that were there two-three years ago have been addressed. They managed to bowl 104 overs with that ball [in England’s first innings]. Now reverse swing is also happening; the ball has retained its shape, too. Now, seam bursting is the third issue, and a different one. We will find a solution to that. We have to work on the thread,” stated Anand.
“We saw that though the thread has burst, the ball didn’t get destroyed. Umpires also didn’t change the ball. In fact, we have already started to work on it. We are not blaming anybody. This is something new that has happened,” he identified.
Kohli had lashed out on the SG ball in October, 2018 throughout West Indies’s tour of India.
“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 has 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,” he had stated.
Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi on Wednesday lashed out on the Indian group.
“I missed out on Indn (sic) debacle yesterday..which was always on cards..but to ‘blame’ the SG ball or the wicket or the toss would be barking up the wrong tree-regrouping is as much the need as appreciating English determination to grind & win-also never underestimate any opposition!” Bedi tweeted.
If it’s the ball or the pitch damaging the ball, solely remaining matches of the sequence will inform. England lead the four-Test sequence 1-0. The second Test begins on the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday