Umesh Yadav agrees with Sachin Tendulkar, calls out problems with ‘two new balls’ in ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar has called it a “perfect recipe for disaster” and 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. Since then, there has been a spurt in the number of high-scoring games, the latest being the world record total of 481 posted by England against Australia.

“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.

The pacer further spoke about the difficulties fast bowlers are facing whilst using two new balls in England.

“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 …read more