In the WTC final between Australia and India, the Dukes’ ball will come into play, and the theory is it would not favor any team as both teams prefer a different type of ball. However, it would add some extra energy to the match.
England is among the toughest grounds for batting, and one of the obvious reasons is the use of the Duke ball if we leave out the exceptional bowling skills of the players using it. This has a dark hue and offers a conventional swing.
Both SG and Dukes are hand-stitched balls and help the bowlers for a longer period of time. Meanwhile, Kukkaburra is a little more batter-friendly. Also the seal becomes flat after using it for a while.
The contest is going to pit two very different sets of bowling attacks against one another. Australia will bring forward the powerful trio of Pat Cummins, Michael Neser/Scott Boland, and Mitchell Starc.
Meanwhile, India would fight back with Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Shami. Apart from the amazing spin twins Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
This is going to make the job a difficult one for the batsmen of both teams. Also, they would have to plan accordingly on how to get over those threats and put runs on the scoreboard. In the 2021 World Test Championship, The Dukes’ ball came up at Southampton. Back then, India struggled against New Zealand and came off as second-best.
Deep Dasgupta, a former cricket player for the Indian team, mentioned that seam bowlers are going to have an advantage with the ball. And the batsman has to be crafty and make their move accordingly, as the ball is going to move around a little bit.
