Rishabh Pant slams 'irritating' Dukes ball

India vice captain Rishabh Pant said the Dukes balls being used in the current Test series against England are losing their shape very quickly and cannot be good for the game.

India captain Shubman Gill was the first to criticise the balls after his team levelled the five-match series with a comprehensive victory in the second Test at Edgbaston.

"I feel it's a big problem because the ball is getting out of shape," Pant told reporters on the eve of the third Test at Lord's, starting on Thursday.

"When you see the ball, you can see it's de-shaped but the rules are such ... it's not up to the players."

India, despite having rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, took 20 wickets at Edgbaston where they racked up 587 in the first innings and declared their second on 427/6.

Pant could not recall another series where the ball

lost its shape so quickly.

"It's definitely irritating for the players because every ball plays differently," said the 27-year-old.

"When it becomes softer it's not doing much but as soon as they change the ball it starts to do enough.

"As a batsman, you keep adjusting to it but at the same time, I feel it's not good for cricket eventually."

India will take a late decision on whether to play left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav at Lord's but Bumrah's return is a major boost for the tourists.

Asked for his view on what made Bumrah, arguably the best all-format bowler of his generation, so special, Pant said, "I think everything - how accurate he is and the way his mind works. He's just amazing."

While batting against Bumrah is a tricky task, keeping to him is not a cakewalk either, Pant said.

"I think it's more difficult for the wicketkeeper behind the wicket than for a batsman, especially in England," Pant said referring to the late movement that Bumrah regularly generates.

• India's tour of England, 2025