India vs England: Umpires replace 16-delivery old ball after it is damaged in bizarre manner

Team India have made a cautious start with the bat in the ongoing first ODI against England at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in Pune. The Men in Blue will be looking to continue their fine run against England after winning the Test and the T20I series. England had started both the series with a win before India came from behind to emerge victorious on both occasions.

With momentum on their side, India are favourites for the ODIs too. The home side has a formidable record against England in ODIs at home. India have not lost a series at home to England since the 1984/85 season and would be looking to extend their dominance. Talking about the ongoing game, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started cautiously after Eoin Morgan won the toss and asked the home side to bat first.

With Mark Wood and Sam Curran getting enough support from the pitch early on, both the Indian openers played defensively. They hardly went for the shots as the pitch was offering bounce and swing. Things became worse for Rohit when he suffered a painful blow on his elbow off Wood’s bowling. He, however, continued batting.

In the first five overs, Dhawan and Rohit could manage only 10 runs before adding 29 more in the next five. From the 11th to 15th over, the India openers collected 35 runs before Ben Stokes broke the stand by dismissing Rohit on the first ball of the 16th over. Before his departure, Rohit scored 28 runs off 42 balls with the help of 4 fours.

Ball damaged in the 3rd over

Usually, a cricket ball is damaged or deformed after being in use for a long time or when the batsmen play too aggressively. And thus it was surprising when the ball which was being used in the ongoing match had to be replaced as early as the 3rd over. The reason behind the replacement was a hole in the ball.

The on-field umpire had to call for a new ball after just 16 deliveries. One of the reasons if not the only reason behind the hole on the ball might be the four that was hit by Shikhar Dhawan on the previous delivery. The ball might have hit any protrusion close to the boundary ropes.