India raise concerns with ICC after receiving 30-overs-old replacement ball after 10 overs at Lord’s Test: Report

The Indian cricket team has levelled a massive allegation against the umpires ongoing Test series in England, reportedly claiming that England were given ‘preferential treatment’ while changing balls during the matches. As per a report in the Indian Express, the Indian team management has complained about the ball-change protocol and the mistakes with the ICC match referee.

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The biggest controversy related to the ball change took place during the Lord’s Test when the second new ball handed to India was changed again after just 10 overs as players complained about it losing shape. Per the rules, the replacement ball has to be in similar condition, but the report states that Team India was given a 30 to 35-over-old ball as a replacement for a 10-over-old ball. During the ball change, the umpires informed the Indian team that no replacement ball was of a similar age to the original.

“At Lord’s, after about 10 overs, the Dukes ball lost its shape, something that has been happening so often in the series,” an Indian team official told the Indian Express.

“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.”

India raise ball change issue with ICC match referee

The ball change, however, backfired as Jasprit Bumrah had taken three wickets in his first 14 deliveries with the original ball, but all Indian bowlers went completely silent after it was replaced.

“Check the scoreboard to see how the game changed after that. The bowlers lost their swing and England scored with ease,” the official added.

As per the report, India even asked for the original ball to be returned, but it wasn’t done as a result of some rules.

“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,” the official said.

As per ESPNcricinfo, the original second new ball produced 1.869 degrees of swing and 0.579 degrees of seam on average. But the replacement ball offered just 0.855 degrees of swing.

Later, England went on to win the Lord’s Test by 22 runs as they took a 2-1 lead in the series.