India vs England 2021: Not At All Pleased, Virat Kohli Joins Ravichandran Ashwin In Criticism Of The New SG Ball

Indian captain Virat Kohli has echoed the sentiments of his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin with regards to the new SG ball that is being used in the ongoing four-match Test series between India and England. Kohli showed displeasure with the new variety of the ball, which has a pronounced seam, yet is not durable at all.

As India lost the first Test match played in Chennai by 227 runs, the focus was also put on the specially manufactured balls by Meerut based Sanspareils Greenlands (SG). The new sets of balls are darker in color and have a more pronounced and heightened seam, with a harder cork at the core.

The new SG ball is seemingly bizarre: Ravichandran Ashwin

However, players are seemingly not happy with the quality of the seam and how easily the ball got scuffed up. On Monday, Ashwin, who took nine wickets in the match, also said that they didn’t expect a torn seam with stitches being peeled off.

“I have never seen an SG ball tear (get torn) through the seam like that. So 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 was getting sort of peeled off,” said Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin had already mentioned in 2018, that he was comfortable bowling with the Kookaburra balls and hoped that the situation and quality of the SG balls get better in the course of the ongoing series.

“It was bizarre, I mean, I haven’t seen an SG ball like that in the last so many years, but yeah, maybe it could be due to the pitch and the hardness of it through the centre which is making the ball get scuffed up,” the off-spinner added.

Ball destroyed in just 60 overs was unexpected: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli was sharing the opinion of Ravichandran Ashwin, as Indian bowlers conveyed their unhappiness with on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Anil Chaudhary, who refused their request to change the ball.

“Quality of the ball (SG-Test) was also not what we were very pleased to see as that was also the case in the past. Just the ball completely being destroyed in 60 overs is not something that you experience as a Test side and any side could be prepared for, “Kohli was quoted as saying by PTI.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Virat Kohli Defends Ajinkya Rahane From Criticism Over Low Scores Since The MCG Test