On the morning of Day 1 of the fourth Test match between England and India at Old Trafford, an unanticipated incident involving Yashasvi Jaiswal occurred. In addition to forcing play to stop, the event raised new doubts about the Duke's ball's manufacture, but in a different way. The young Indian opener was left perplexed when his bat broke while defending a delivery from Chris Woakes.
Jaiswal tried a straightforward back-foot defense against a short-of-length delivery from Woakes in the ninth over of India's innings. However, the impact broke the bat close to the neck and clearly bent the willow, turning what should have been a routine block into a dramatic one.
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Jaiswal was taken aback and had to walk away to get a replacement. It's interesting to note that the delivery only registered 126 kph on the speed sensor, raising questions about whether the Duke's ball had suddenly grown tougher than anticipated.
The argument is not new. Players from both teams have frequently voiced their worries with the Dukes ball's inconsistent play throughout the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. Bowlers have found it difficult to move on the docile pitches and unusually dry English summer, and teams have frequently asked for ball changes because of the quick softening. But this specific breakage completely changed the topic of discussion: was the ball now too hard?
The Dukes ball's manufacturer, Dilip Jagjodia, had previously accepted the criticism but rejected any significant departure from accepted production standards. He had drawn attention to the thin line that manufacturers must walk between damage and durability.
The Indian Express cited Jagjodia as saying, “If I made a really hard ball, it would have broken bats.”
“That’s the problem, we have to be careful. If people are adventurous players, they might be tempted to do it. That would be disastrous.”
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The regulations governing the ball's lifespan in Test matches were also explained by Jagjodia. “The laws of the game are that the ball has to deteriorate over 80 overs. So, the ball has to play 80 overs, it gradually gets worse. You can’t suddenly come after 20 overs and say, this ball is not doing what I want or what it does.”
He went on to say that each ball is expertly made in accordance with British standards. “I’m a very stickler for the rules, I make sure that we do the best we can. I select the balls personally… they are the most beautiful things on the planet. When you play with them, that’s out of my control.”
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