Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah rattled England’s middle order and picked his 15th five-wicket haul in Test matches during the third India vs England Test at Lord’s on Friday. The World No. 1 Test bowler Bumrah cleaned up Harry Brook, centurion Joe Root, skipper Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes on a golden duck and Jofra Archer, to break the record for most five-fors by an Indian (13) in overseas Tests.
The second day, however, made headlines for different reasons as the Dukes ball failed to keep its shape as the second new ball given to India had to be changed only after 63 legitimate deliveries. The replacement ball also had to be changed only after 48 deliveries. A livid Shubman Gill was seen having an antimated discussion with the on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula.
Bumrah, however, chose to be tight-lipped on the controversy and said, “The ball changes, I don’t really control that. Obviously, I don’t want to lose out on money because I work very hard and play a lot of overs. So, I don’t want to say any controversial statements and get my match fees deducted,” he said after the Stumps on Day 2 during the press conference.
“But we were bowling with the ball that we were given. And that’s how it is. We can’t change it. We can’t fight it. Sometimes it goes your way. Sometimes you get a bad ball. That’s how it is,” added Bumrah.
He compared the Dukes ball from 2018 and said the ball lasted much longer back then.
“In 2018, when I had come here, the Dukes ball was consistently swinging and I was bowling the outswinger. I had consistently started bowling it here. The ball was moving around a lot more.”When I played here earlier, the balls were not changed. They used to remain hard. It’s dry summer and the wickets are hard, so the ball is going soft. I don’t remember changing the Dukes ball earlier. That is definitely different this time. When the ball goes soft, it is easy for batting,” he added.
