R Ashwin shocked with new SG ball despite 9-wicket haul in Chennai, Virat Kohli agrees

After the end of play on Day 4 of the first Test against England, Indian spinner R Ashwin had complained about the quality of the hand-stitched Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) ball, saying how the stitches on the seam were coming off. Indian captain Virat Kohli also echoed Ashwin's sentiments and questioned the texture of the SG ball after India lost the first Test by 227 runs.

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Virat Kohli echoes R Ashwin's sentiments over poor quality of SG ball

During the post-match press conference, Kohli said that the wicket was flat and slow and the quality of the ball also wasn’t something that they were very pleased to see because that has been an issue in the past as well. He further said that for the ball’s seam to be completely destroyed in 60 overs is not something that you experience as a Test side and something any Test side could be prepared for.

Ashwin was the first player to open up on the matter. The off-spinner said that he has never seen an SG ball tear (get) through the seam like that. However, he acknowledged that it could well be a combination of how hard the pitch was on the first two days because even in the second innings after the 35th-40th over, the seam was getting peeled off.

Ashwin stated that it was bizarre because he hasn't seen an SG ball like that in so many years. The off spinner's sentiments were confirmed by the SG ball manufacturer according to multiple reports, who claimed that the Chennai pitch was indeed responsible for the ball getting scuffed up.

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Notably, this is not the first time that Kohli has expressed his unhappiness over the quality of the SG ball. In 2018, during the Test series against West Indies, Kohli had asked for the introduction of the Dukes ball (used in England) in India. Back then, Kohli had lashed out at the quality of the SG ball by saying that a ball scuffing up in five overs is not something that they have seen before. He also said that the quality of the ball used to be quite high before and he doesn’t understand the reason why it’s gone down.

Kohli reckoned that the Dukes is the most suited ball for Test match cricket and if there’s a situation, he would vouch for that to be used all over the world. After Kohli's staunch criticism, the manufacturers had improved the quality of the red cherry. Remarkably, the ball being used in the India vs England 2021 series has a pronounced seam, harder core and is a darker shade of red which are the changes that are made after talking to the players.

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India vs England 2021: Here's Virat Kohli's post-match press conference

Meanwhile, despite not being happy with the quality of the SG ball, Ashwin did his job to perfection as he claimed nine out of the 20 England wickets. The off-spinner ended with figures of 3/146 from 55.1 overs in the first innings and followed it up by a stunning spell of 6/61 from 17.3 overs in the second innings.

R Ashwin Test wickets

The Ashwin career stats in Test cricket make for a staggering read. The Ashwin Test wickets include the 386 scalps he has bagged across 75 Tests at a splendid average of 25.48 to go with 28 five-wicket hauls. Ashwin is nearing the 400-wicket mark in the longest format of the game and when he achieves the feat, he will become the fourth Indian bowler after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417) to do so.

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SOURCE: BCCI.TV/ BCCI TWITTER