• Source:JND
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The evolving characteristics of the Dukes ball, particularly its tendency to soften significantly after 40 overs, are presenting a major challenge for the Shubman Gill-led Indian team in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. India's captain Shubman Gill has been actively seeking insights from experienced players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja, all of whom have toured England multiple times, to understand how the Dukes ball has changed over the past 7-8 years.

This issue became particularly evident in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds, where India suffered a five-wicket defeat. On Day five, India notably missed the services of a second spinner as England comfortably chased down the 371-run target. While India's pacers were expected to make inroads in the run chase, only Jasprit Bumrah managed to make an impact. By the time the new ball was due, the game was effectively out of India's reach.

On Tuesday, Gill publicly addressed this concern, expressing his preference for an extra spinner during the 40-60 over phase of an innings. He suggested that a pacer would find it tough to contain England's aggressive batters with a softer Dukes ball in that period.

“I have spoken to some of the players who were part of the 2018-19 series and they said the balls were slightly different in that series.

Even in the 2021 series as well, the ball was doing a little bit more. The ball stopped doing between 40-60 (overs) but then 60-80, the ball started doing again a little bit,” said the captain.

“And in this match that we played and even in WTC that we saw, after the 40 overs or 45 overs, the ball becomes quite soft.

“So even if there is something happening from the ball because it's soft, it's not the carry or there's not enough from the ball where you keep creating chances from the ball.

“We felt that it is easier to contain the runs for spinners than for fast bowlers, especially when the ball is old. In these conditions, the ball does not swing as much after 30-40 overs,” he added.

Very Rare To Drop 5-7 Catches: Gill

India dropped as many as seven catches at Leeds and that hurt them badly. Gill hoped that the worst is behind the team on the fielding front and the players can sight the ball better going ahead.

“This is one factor that the ball swings behind the wicket. You must have seen here that there are many problems in sighting the ball, especially when the fielders are standing in the square behind the wicket.

“Their team and our team, when there are stands behind the wicket or there are visuals behind the wicket, sometimes the ball is in sight very late. But we all know that it is difficult to sight the ball and the ball swings behind the wicket.

“It is very rare that 5-7 catches are missed in very few matches. Hopefully, it will not happen in the future,” added Gill.