Credit: ICC
Team India have levelled a huge accusation against the umpires in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, reportedly asserting that the hosts were given ‘preferential treatment’ while changing balls during the games. As per reports, the biggest controversy linked to the ball change happened during the Lord’s Test when the second new ball given to India was changed again after just 10 overs. The visiting side’s players complained about the ball losing shape. According to the guidelines, the replacement ball has to be in similar condition, but the report reveals that Team India were handed a 30 to 35-over-old ball as a replacement for a 10-over-old ball.
During the ball change process, the umpires informed Team India that no replacement ball was of a similar age to the original. According to a report in The Indian Express, Team India management has filed a complaint about the ball-change protocol and the mistakes with the ICC match referee. “At Lord’s, after about 10 overs, the Dukes ball lost its shape, something that has been happening so often in the series. The ball failed to pass through the rings that the umpires carry on the field to check if the ball is uniformly spherical. However, the umpires didn’t have a ball that was 10 overs old, so the Indian team at a crucial moment of the match got a ball that was 30-35 overs old,” said a Team India official to The Indian Express.
The ball change hampered India bowlers’ swing
The ball change didn’t affect India bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who went on to grab three wickets in his first 14 deliveries with the original ball, but after the replacement, all India bowlers failed to get swing which impacted the visiting side negatively. “Check the scoreboard to see how the game changed after that. The bowlers lost their swing and England scored with ease,” added the Team India official.
The Indian Express report also claims that Team India asked for the original ball to be returned, but it wasn’t done due to some guidelines. “When you ask for a ball change, you aren’t told about the age of the replacement you will be getting. At Lord’s, we weren’t told that the replacement would be 30 to 35 overs old. If we were told, we would have continued with the deformed ball that was used for 10 overs. The ICC needs to intervene. This rule needs to be changed,” concluded the official from Team India.
