The Indian Cricket Board’s bid to change the existing rule of using two new white balls in One-day Internationals (ODIs) saw strong opposition from some of the other member Boards which led to ICC only agreeing to use one ball in a curtailed match.
It is learnt that there was a voting amongst the representatives of the 10 Test playing nations at the ICC Chief Executives Meeting in Dubai and there were five countries that voted in favour of existing rule of the use of two new white balls from two ends. “There was a voting process and India along with Pakistan, Bangladesh voted against use of two new balls. Australia, New Zealand, England and Zimbabwe were among those in favour of using two new balls while West Indies and South Africa abstained from voting. We have expressed our reservations about using of two new balls,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said.
For any change in existing rule, the ICC constitution states that two third of the majority should vote in favour of change to get it implemented. This effectively meant that BCCI needed the support of six other nations to change the rule. Seven out of 10 votes would have sealed the issue in BCCI’s favour.
The moment WICB and CSA abstained from voting, it became clear that the existing rule will remain although for a curtailed ODI of 25 overs or less, one new white ball will be used.