Sachin Tendulkar has called it a "perfect recipe for disaster" and now India pacer Umesh Yadav has condemned the use of two new balls in One-day Internationals, saying it is killing the art of reverse swing while putting fast bowlers at great disadvantage.
The 'two new balls' system was introduced by the ICC in 2011. Since then, there has been a spurt in the number of high-scoring games, the latest being the world record total of 481 posted by England against Australia.
"Because of the two new balls, it is tough for the fast bowlers to contain runs. If you have only one ball then it gets older and older and you get reverse swing. With two balls, reverse swing is rarely seen in the ODI game right now, so it is difficult for fast bowlers especially if they don't get the lengths and the yorkers right," Umesh said.
The pacer further spoke about the difficulties fast bowlers are facing whilst using two new balls in England.
"If the ball isn't doing anything in the death overs, it is tough to handle that pressure especially if the wicket is very flat. Nowadays we have seen that the wickets are very flat and in England they are now regularly playing on that kind of surfaces. They are scoring 480, so definitely it is very challenging for the fast bowlers. Even so, we are looking forward to this challenge because we are playing good cricket and we will try to play our best in England," he said.
Umesh has shrugged off his lack of opportunities in international cricket and said that he is looking to play against England during the impending tour.
After a gap of five years, Yadav was picked for the second T20 International against Ireland yesterday. He took 2-19 as the hosts crashed to a 143-run defeat and handed India a 2-0 boost ahead of the T20I series against England starting Manchester on July 3.
"This is like my comeback after five years," said Umesh.
"I am definitely happy with my performance in this game and I enjoyed myself a lot in this outing. I just tried to keep it simple and tried to do the same things as I did in the IPL. In the future also, I will try to do the same routine and see how it works out for me."
Umesh hasn't played ODI cricket since September 2017, and while he did play against Afghanistan in the one-off Test at Bengaluru recently, he last played a proper series in Sri Lanka, almost a year ago.
Whilst considered one of the most improved bowlers recently, he missed out on nearly the entire home season and also warmed the bench during the tour of South Africa.