“I don't want to lose out on money”- Jasprit Bumrah refrains from commenting on ball-change controversy

Jasprit Bumrah picked his maiden fifer at the Lord’s and got onto the honors board at the venue.

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah declined to comment on the condition of the Dukes ball following the conclusion of play on day two of the ongoing third test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London against England. During the morning session, the visitors were upset with the quality of the ball, with skipper Shubman Gill exchanging heated words with the on-field umpires about what he saw as an insufficient replacement.

The incident appeared to disturb India’s flow, as England’s Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse seized on the momentum, putting together an important 84-run partnership to propel the hosts above the 350-run mark. When asked about India’s displeasure with the Dukes ball, Bumrah avoided getting into specifics.

Bumrah was also questioned whether India was unhappy with the Dukes ball, but the speedster remained tight-lipped and jokingly stated that he did not want his match costs decreased because he works exceptionally hard as a bowler.

“And the ball changes, I don’t really control that. Obviously, I don’t want to lose out on money because I work very hard and bowl a lot of overs, so I don’t want to say any controversial statements and get my match fees deducted. But we, we were bowling with the ball that we were given, and that’s how it is that we can’t change it, we can’t fight it. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes you get a bad ball. That’s how it is,” said Bumrah in the post-match press conference.

Jasprit Bumrah picked 5/74, but the ball change helped England feast on the softer ball as Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse hit fifties. This helped England post 387 runs in the first innings.

On previous tours, we never got the ball changed: Jasprit Bumrah

Furthermore, Bumrah pondered on the disparity with earlier tours, noting that the Dukes ball used to last longer and was rarely replaced. However, he remarked that the current English summer has been abnormally dry, and the tougher conditions have contributed to the ball softening faster this time around, impacting its longevity and performance throughout the innings.

“More than the pitch, I feel the ball is a bit different because, on our previous tours here, the ball was never changed; it used to remain hard for a long time. Now, obviously, it’s dry, it’s summer — the wicket is also hard, so maybe that’s why the ball is getting softer. But there’s quite a bit of change in that.

“Like, I don’t even remember in the last couple of tours if we ever got the Dukes ball changed. So that’s a bit of a difference here. And this is a hard-ball game — when the ball is hard, there is some movement here, but as soon as it gets soft, it becomes a bit more beneficial for batting. So that seems to be the major difference between the last time and this time,” he added.

Despite this, Bumrah picked his 15th five-wicket haul in test cricket and first at the Lord’s. This helped Bumrah get his name on the Lord’s honors board.

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