Share

Kohli comes out swinging over Test balls

Hyderabad - Captain Virat Kohli said India should ditch the SG ball for their home games, complaining that it scuffs up too easily and that he would prefer to see Dukes balls used for all Tests worldwide.

India thrashed the West Indies by a record innings and 272 runs last week but spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said the SG ball was "disappointing", and that he preferred Australia's Kookaburra or Dukes.

"The quality of the (SG) balls used to be quite high before and I don't understand the reason why it has gone down because Dukes ball is still good quality, Kookaburra is still good quality," Kohli said ahead of the second Test in Hyderabad.

He said the "quality of the ball has to be maintained otherwise you have too many dead sessions in a Test match. You want to see exciting cricket and guys working hard for runs being in the battle all day".

Kohli added: "I totally agree with him (Ashwin). To have a ball that is scuffed up in five overs is not something that we have seen before."

The SG has always been used by India in five-day international and domestic games, while England use Dukes for Test cricket and Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka prefer the Kookaburra.

Kohli, whose side recently lost a five-Test series in England 4-1, said: "The Dukes ball is the most suited ball according to me in Test match cricket, and if there is a situation I would vouch for it to be used all over the world because of the consistency."

The Dukes was always the ball of choice until Australia's Kookaburra broke its monopoly. While England continue to use Dukes in their home Tests, the Kookaburra is widely used in limited-overs cricket.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
67% - 945 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
33% - 463 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE