The legendary Indian batsman Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has appealed that the rule of having two new balls in ODI cricket needs to be reconsidered as it has restricted the bowlers to get a limited amount of reverse swing in the death overs. Tendulkar took to Twitter and observed that the recent high scoring games in ODIs are lowering down the standards of the game in the conventional limited overs format as the best testimony of the same was witnessed between England and Australia.
After scoring a world record 481/6 — the highest men’s ODI total of all time — in a crushing 242-run victory at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, England chased down a target of 312 with more than five overs to spare at Riverside on Thursday.
Sachin’s tweet read: “Having 2 new balls in one day cricket is a perfect recipe for disaster as each ball is not given the time to get old enough to reverse. We haven’t seen reverse swing, an integral part of the death overs, for a long time. #ENGvsAUS”.
Having 2 new balls in one day cricket is a perfect recipe for disaster as each ball is not given the time to get old enough to reverse. We haven’t seen reverse swing, an integral part of the death overs, for a long time. #ENGvsAUS
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 21, 2018
Another cricketing legend Wasim Akram also endorsed the thoughts of the batting legend as he said that it is because of this particular rule that reverse swing has ‘almost vanished’ from the game. Younis’ tweet read: “Reason why we don’t produce many attacking fast bowlers..They all very defensive in their approach…always looking for change ups..totally agree with you @sachin_rt reverse swing is almost vanished.. #SAD”.
Reason why we don’t produce many attacking fast bowlers..They all very defensive in their approach…always looking for change ups..totally agree with you @sachin_rt reverse swing is almost vanished.. #SAD https://t.co/hPHoMXujcr
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) June 21, 2018
Tendulkar & Younis aren’t the only former greats to raise concerns about the impact of two new balls on fast bowlers. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in 2015, legendary Windies pacer Michael Holding had warned that the move could make life very difficult for members of his fraternity.
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Holding said, “The white ball behaves a little bit differently to the red ball. If the manufacturers can get the white ball to behave similarly to the red ball, you would have to look at two new balls as well. If you had two red balls, because years ago, if you had two red balls, bowlers would have dominated. With two white balls the bowlers have no chance of dominating because the balls don’t do enough.”
The concept of two new balls in ODIs from both the ends was introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2011. While initial reasoning behind the move was to give the faster bowlers something more to work with as the shine would remain for longer on the balls, it has turned into a nightmare for fast bowlers, who have been unable to get any reverse swing post the 40th over.
