Sachin Tendulkar reckons two new balls in ODIs is ‘a perfect recipe for disaster’

England posted a world record 481 for 6 against Australia in the third ODI, bettering their own record of 444 against Pakistan. In the next ODI, England chased down a target of 312 inside 45 overs. Concerned by the number of high scoring games recently, Tendulkar has criticised the use of two new balls in ODIs, saying it is “a perfect recipe for disaster”. The ICC had introduced the usage of two new balls from two ends after amending its playing rules back in October 2011. 

Gone have those times when there used to be a fair battle between bat and ball. Now a days, the game has drastically shifted in favor of the batsmen and as was seen in the England-Australia series, batsmen have made a mockery of even good balls by hitting sixes from the toe end of the bats. 

Tendulkar’s view was endorsed by Pakistan’s legendary master of reverse swing Waqar Younis. Younis got a lot of his wickets with his reverse swinging deliveries in the 1990s and if it wasn’t for reverse swing, Younis wouldn’t have had got close to 800 wickets in International cricket.   

Interestingly, BCCI was one board that protested the move questioning the diminishing role of spinners due to this new rule tweak. However, ICC has stuck to it in its efforts to make the game batsman-friendly. The logic given was the discolouration of the white ball during the end of the innings and batsmen not being able to sight it properly especially in the dusty sub-continental conditions under lights. The current rule means that the white kookaburra is bowled for only 25 overs from one end.

Therefore, unlike earlier era, the ball doesn’t get soft, which would make it difficult for the batsmen to hit through the line like they do nowadays at the back-end of the innings. The chance of reverse swing has decreased even further with two new balls being used.