India vs England 2021: Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin complain of ball quality, BCCI asks ball makers to recheck quality
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The infamous ball-manufacturer, Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) who has been contracted for ball supplies in on-going India vs England Test series, has been informed of the quality issues by the BCCI. The BCCI carried forwarded the issue after following complaints from India captain Virat Kohli and his teammates.
The Indian players complained ball’s seam is not lasting long enough.
“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, told 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 said.
The famous SG ball
Indian skipper Virat Kohli , on Tuesday, raised the mentioned the issues that the Team faced with the ball during the match.
“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,” said Kohli in the post-match media interaction.
Ravi Ashwin, who took a six-wicket haul 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 said after the fourth day of the first Test. Interesingly, Ashwin took six wickets on the same day.
Kohli had complained about the ball over two years ago as well. However, Anand said that the two issues Kohli complained about are different from the current complaint.
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