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IND vs ENG: Ex-England skipper Alastair Cook has taken a hilarious dig at the ongoing debate over the Dukes ball being used during the Test series against India. Although the action on the field has been quite intense, the discussion has been off-field mostly, where they talked about the ball's shape and condition.

Ever since the Ben Stokes-led side had won the dramatic match at Lord's, which has also helped them to lead the series by 2-1, Cook took a hilarious dig at bowlers for continuously blaming the ball when things didn't work in their favour.

"I just love how bowlers are always moaning. It's like they bowl a bad ball, and it's never their fault. They've scraped the footmark. If they bowl a bad ball, they look at the ball and blame the shape," Cook was quoted as saying on BBC Sport.

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Cook made this statement amidst the constant criticism the Duke's ball has been facing in the ongoing Test series. In the third Test match, the Indian bowlers were seen getting irritated when the on-field umpires didn't allow them to change the ball on the second day, and that led to the debate around the ball's performance. A lot of times, the players were seen analysing the ball and also talking about its behaviour on the field.

Cook realised that the ball's condition might affect the match, especially for batters.

"I think a batsman would much rather hit some slightly harder ball. Nothing worse than playing a lovely cover drive like I used to, and it going nowhere," he added.

Although Cook looked at the funny side of the situation, the others reacted to it more critically. Ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain had criticised the Indian bowlers for constantly requesting to change the ball during the third Test and described it as one of the weirdest decisions, as the ball was already swinging a lot.

"I cannot work out why you'd want to change a ball that was doing this much. It didn't make much sense," Hussain was heard as saying on air.

This debate has made the ongoing series more interesting, especially when conditions, momentum, and strategies have constantly changed. There are some who have reckoned that the shape and the condition of the ball have hugely affected the result of these games. And others believe that this has become a convenient excuse, especially when things are not going in your favour.

Now that the focus will shift to Old Trafford, where the fourth Test will be held from next week, the Shubman Gill-led side is in a must-win situation to keep their hopes alive of winning the series. If the condition of the ball again becomes debatable, it remains to be seen, but it's quite clear that the Dukes have had their effect on this series.

And as per Alastair Cook, the bowlers might be making a huge deal out of it so that they pin all the blame on the ball.