Quality of SG balls have dipped, Dukes should be used worldwide: Virat Kohli

India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also criticised the SG ball after the first Test at Rajkot.

Ahead of the second Test against West Indies at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad, India captain Virat Kohli has expressed his reservations with the hosts using the SG ball. Kohli, who’s side lost 4-1 in the Test series against England where the Dukes ball was used, felt he would like the same Dukes ball to be used across the globe.

“The quality of the [SG] balls used to be quite high before. I don’t understand the reason why it has gone down because the Dukes ball good quality, Kookaburra is still good quality,” Kohli said on Wednesday in Hyderabad.

“The quality of the ball has to be maintained otherwise you have too many dead sessions in a Test match. You want to see exciting cricket and guys working hard for runs being in the battle all day.”

India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also criticised the SG ball after the first Test at Rajkot where the hosts handed a humiliating innings and 272-run defeat to the West Indies.

“I totally agree with him [Ashwin]. To have a ball that is scuffed up in the five overs is not something that we have seen before,” he said.

India have always used the SG ball in the five-day international and domestic games. England use the Dukes ball for Tests, while Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka prefer the Kookaburra.

“The Dukes ball is the most suited ball according to me in Test match cricket. If there is a situation, I would vouch for it to be used all over the world because of the consistency.”

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