The ball-change rule after the 34th over in one-day internationals, in vogue at the on-going Future Cup series between India and Australia, seems to be attracting as much censure as the much-ridiculed Super Sub rule.

Faced with stinging criticism from most captains who thought the rule would give undue advantage to the team winning the toss, the International Cricket Council eventually scrapped the controversial Super Sub experiment.

On the evidence of what has transpired in this series so far, the ball-change rule does seem to give some advantage to the batting side. That doesn’t amuse the Australian skipper too much. "It's unfair on the part of the team which does everything right," said Ponting when asked what his displeasure was as regards the ball-change rule.

The Indian bowlers too have been having problems containing the Aussie batsmen in the middle overs, especially after the change of ball. While Indian players, as is their wont, have chosen to maintain a studied silence on the newest rule, the Aussies -- known to have a strong opinion one way or the other -- including Ponting, his deputy Adam Gilchrist and pacer Brett Lee have been making their displeasure clear over the issue, which is sure to trigger a big debate in days to come.

Citing instances of inconsistency in implementing the rule, Ponting thought that the rule gives a very a big advantage to the batting side. “A couple of times we won the toss and batted first and the ball was not changed when we asked for a change (because the ball was discoloured).

It's a very big advantage to the batting side, you get a new harder ball early in the innings and batsmen can hit the ball around," he said, making an oblique reference to change of ball before the mandatory 35th over when India were batting in the Nagpur game.

“I think common sense would suggest that if you change the ball early like after 27th or 28th over (because the ball is lost or discoloured), the next change should be after the 41st over,” he added. 

Former India pacer and presently the team's bowling coach, Venkatesh Prasad, too felt the rule does give a slight advantage to the batsmen. "It's slightly disadvantageous to bowlers, no about that," Prasad told Deccan Herald. Prasad also wondered on what basis the rule makers decided to change the ball after 34 overs.

"I still don't understand how they came to this ball-change after 34 overs. Maybe because it's when the drinks are taken, I don't know. But if you ask me, I would say the change can be delayed a bit, say like after 40 overs. Because it's between the 30th and 40th overs that you generate reverse swing," explained Prasad.

"Obviously, the batsmen will have a chance to make their strokes if the ball is hard, especially on pitches of the kind you get in the sub-continent. So it's a bit hard on the bowlers. You have so many rules that are loaded against bowlers and this is another one," he stated.  

Lee, who has had an average series so far, was of the opinion that the rule was taking the charm out of the game. "It's a challenge playing the old ball when it starts reverse-swinging," he opined.