2024-09-12 09:35:35
Dhaka: The next challenge for the Bangladeshi team that created history by winning the Test series 2-0 against Pakistan is India. The Bangla Tigers will begin their tour of India from 19th September. But the Bangladeshi camp is tensed before this two-Test match series. And the reason for this tension of Bangladesh is the ball. Yes! You heard it right, the Bangladeshi team is scared of the red coloured ‘SG Test ball’ in India. Bangladesh is anyway used to playing with the Kookaburra ball. While it created history with the Kookaburra ball even during the Pakistan tour. In such a situation, it becomes important to understand how important the controversy over the ball is before the India tour.What is the difference between SG and Kookaburra ball
SG ball, Kookaburra ball and Duke ball are used in International Test Cricket. Every country uses these balls in Test matches according to its choice. For example, SG ball is used only in India. While Kookaburra is used by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Duke ball is played in England and West Indies. The special thing is that SG ball is made in India, Kookaburra is produced in Australia and Duke ball is produced in England. If we talk about the difference between SG and Kookaburra, then the main difference between the two is stitching. While the stitching of SG ball is done by hand, the stitching of Kookaburra is done by machine.
Why is SG ball necessary in India
Due to machine stitching, the ball does not get much seam movement. Due to hand stitching, the seam of SG is more raised and due to this, there is more seam movement. The pitches in India are more rough, due to which a ball like SG is needed, which does not lose its shape for a long time. On Asian pitches, reverse swing is also more with the SG ball than with any other ball. Whereas, Kookaburra balls are suitable for bouncy pitches.
Bangladesh struggles in front of SGBangladesh team, which usually performs poorly against India, performs even worse on Indian pitches. Both the teams have played a total of 13 matches against each other, where the average of Bangladeshi batsmen has been 22.07. As soon as these batsmen face the SG ball on the Indian pitch, their average drops to 20.67. On the other hand, if we look further into the statistics, the average of Bangladeshi batsmen while facing pacers on the Indian pitch is just 17.29. This is the lowest average among any team that has played 2 or more matches on an Indian tour since 2002.