After Sachin Tendulkar, now India pacer Umesh Yadav has condemned the use of two new balls in One-day Internationals, saying it is killing the art of reverse swing while putting fast bowlers at great disadvantage. The ‘two new balls’ system was introduced by the ICC in 2011.
“Because of the two new balls, it is tough for the fast bowlers to contain runs. If you have only one ball then it gets older and older and you get reverse swing. With two balls, reverse swing is rarely seen in the ODI game right now, so it is difficult for fast bowlers especially if they don’t get the lengths and the yorkers right,” Umesh said.
“If the ball isn’t doing anything in the death overs, it is tough to handle that pressure especially if the wicket is very flat. “Nowadays we have seen that the wickets are very flat and in England they are now regularly playing on that kind of surfaces. They are scoring 480, so definitely it is very challenging for the fast bowlers.
“Even so, we are looking forward to this challenge because we are playing good cricket and we will try to play our best in England,” he said.
Umesh hasn’t played ODI cricket since September 2017.
