NEW DELHI: Apart from Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery burst, Joe Root’s century, and Brydon Carse’s gritty resistance, one unusual subplot dominated Day 2 of the third Test at Lord’s — Team India’s repeated requests to change the ball.Live Score: India vs England, 3rd TestShubman Gill, visibly frustrated, was seen several times walking up to the umpires, pointing to the ball, and urging them to check it. What followed was a repeated ritual — the umpires putting the ball through the ring gauge, occasionally rejecting it, and sometimes agreeing to switch it. This scene played out multiple times in the first session alone, drawing attention to the persistent shape issues with the Dukes ball.From the Lord’s balcony, India head coach Gautam Gambhir was also seen gesturing in confusion toward bowling coach Morne Morkel — clearly unimpressed with the ball’s inconsistent durability.
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Former England pacer Stuart Broad echoed those frustrations on social media, saying,“The cricket ball should be like a fine wicketkeeper — barely noticed. We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue & being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable… Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10.”
Despite the distractions, England fought back through Jamie Smith, who followed up his Edgbaston heroics with another counter-punching fifty. He reached lunch unbeaten on 51 off 53 balls, with Carse (33*) providing firm support in an unbroken 82-run partnership for the eighth wicket.Earlier, Bumrah ripped through England’s middle order with three wickets in two overs, dismissing Root (104), Stokes (44), and Woakes (0), reducing England from 251/4 to 271/7.
