Amidst the intense scrutiny surrounding the Dukes ball and its perceived inability to retain its hardness over longer durations in the ongoing series between England and India, ball-maker Dilip Jajodia has hit back at critics and called for a review of the rules of the game.
During the second Test at Edgbaston, there were at least four instances of England complaining about the shape of the ball by the 30-over mark on the first day before the ball was eventually changed after 56 overs.
However, Jajodia believes power-hitting and the ever-increasing number of boundaries and sixes have had a significant bearing in altering the conditions of the ball rather than the quality of the ball itself.
“It [the ball] is a small 156-gramme object, which is being hit with a three-pound piece of wood. It is striking the stands, the wooden seats; it is striking concrete pillars more often than ever in the history of the game. It gets thrown back and they carry on. The ball is deteriorating, and more alarmingly now, because of the conditions of the game,” Jajodia told Sportstar on Tuesday.
“It is becoming a thing for people to complain about the ball. If they are not getting wickets, they go to the umpire. It is not a question of the ball going out of shape. The ball apparently gets soft. The ball is supposed to go soft, that is why you get a new one at the end of 80 overs. After 10 or 15 overs they want to change the ball because they are not getting wickets, or they perceive it is going soft.
“If I made a ball that didn’t go out of shape, there would be broken bats and fingers. It is easy to make the ball harder, but you have to be sensible,” he added.
Though India skipper Shubman Gill enjoyed a record-breaking outing at Edgbaston, scoring more runs in a match than any Indian batter ever in Test cricket history, he also trained his guns at the Dukes ball and lamented the lack of help for his bowlers.
“It is very difficult for the bowlers. I think more than the wicket, maybe, the ball is out of shape very quickly. It gets soft very quickly. I don’t know what it is, whether it is wickets or whatever. It is very difficult to get a wicket in such conditions, when there is nothing there,” he said after India clinched a 336-run win.
Bowlers have struggled to with the old ball in the two matches so far in the series.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Bowlers have struggled to with the old ball in the two matches so far in the series.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
India struggled with the old ball during the first innings at Edgbaston as Harry Brook and Jamie Smith piled on a blistering 303-run partnership for the sixth wicket after losing the first five wickets for 84. Similarly, India failed to find breakthroughs at Headingley as England comfortably chased down 371 on the fifth day, which witnessed repeated requests from Gill and Shardul Thakur to change the ball.
However, rather than pointing fingers at the ball, Jajodia believes the custodians of the game should consider making the second new ball available before the 80-over mark, which is the current stipulation.
“There is an 80-over tolerance. It goes back in history. Perhaps that should be addressed. Is it physically possible to have a ball to last 80 overs these days because of the change in the nature of the equipment?” he opined.
Responding to Gill’s criticism of his product, Jajodia said, “I find it rather strange they [India] are complaining when perhaps it was the ball and the inadequacy of the ball that enabled the captain to score more runs than any other Indian in the history of the game. So, was it a lousy ball or was it his skill? They managed to take 20 wickets, which nobody predicted they would because [Jasprit] Bumrah was not playing.”
Talking about the ‘mystery’ and ‘romanticism’ involved in producing the Dukes ball, Jijodia explained his product was an entirely hand-stitched product that was susceptible to defects but adhered to the most restrictive of specifications and quality controls.
“This is not an engineered steel product that you can produce thousands of exactly the same as each other. Each one is slightly different, and the most difficult thing about it is you can’t test it before you sell it because it is a ball that has to be brand new… It is entirely hand stitched. That in itself is a weakness, because there are three different stitchers involved, it only needs one of them not to do his job properly on that day. But that is the romance of the product.”
