The Indian camp has already conveyed through Ravichandran Ashwin and captain Virat Kohli its displeasure regarding the SG balls in use for the first Test in Chennai, which England won comfortably by 227 runs.
It has been learnt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already asked Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) — makers of the ball — for a feedback on why the seam of the ball tore after 60 overs, something Ashwin had stated after the penultimate day of the Test.
“SG has responded to the Board, saying the nature of the pitch too could be responsible alongside the quality of the seam,” sources said.
In fact, Ashwin too had spoken of the pitch being one reason behind the seam getting so affected. “The ball was pretty bizarre for us, because I’ve 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-40th over, the seam started to sort of peel off, which was bizarre,” the off-spinner had said.
Kohli too was severely critical of the ball. “The ball being completely destroyed in 60 overs is not something you experience as a Test side and that any Test side could be prepared for,” was Kohli’s remark.
The second Test, also at the Chepauk, begins this Saturday with hardly any time to make drastic changes.
“At such short notice, the only change that we could see is turn from Day III itself,” said someone in the know of things.
The makers, however, promise further research in order to make sure the ball doesn’t suffer much because of a pitch’s abrasive nature. “We have obviously understood what has happened here and based on the feedback that we are getting from the players, we’ll again go back and do some extra research and understand how the wicket exactly was like in the first game, and what more we can do
to ensure this does not happen again,” Paras Anand, marketing director of SG, told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
“We need to be prepared to have a ball which can endure such conditions and find out a solution so that it doesn’t get too affected because of the surface,” he added.
‘No excuses’
Team India should not be citing the SG ball’s quality as an excuse, spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi said.
“I missed out on Indn 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.
Kohli did heavily criticise the ball, but also said his team wasn’t looking for excuses. “It’s not an excuse. England played better cricket and they deserved to win,” the skipper had said.