During the Covid-19 pandemic, many new changes were brought into the game in the hopes of preventing the spread of the disease on the field. One of the rules of the game that were changed was that saliva was banned by the ICC in 2022 in order to prevent the bowlers from using it to shine the ball.
The introduction of the rule meant that players had to stop using saliva on the ball to general swing, but instead, allowed sweat to be used as a substitute. However, veteran spinner Amit Mishra was seen trying to apply saliva on the ball.
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) spinner was caught on camera shining the ball during the first delivery of the 12th over, while their opponents on the night RCB were still bowling the first innings. Bowling to RCB's Virat Kohli, the 40-year-old was caught on camera using saliva on the ball which the former India captain hit to deep point for a single.
Then in the third delivery of the over, Mishra went on to dismiss Kohli, who got a short ball which the batter tried to pull but could only send to deep midwicket for a catch by Marcus Stoinis. Kohli departed for 61 runs off 44 balls, packed with four fours and four sixes.
ICC had already banned the usage of saliva when Covid-19 began, including in IPL. Even in IPL 2020, Kohli was caught applying saliva on the ball after stopping a short at short cover. The 35-year-old quickly realised his mistake, smiled and acknowledged it by raising his hand.
This is not the first time that Mishra has gone against the saliva ban. In IPL 2021, while representing Delhi Capitals, Mishra accidentally applied saliva on the ball before bowling his first delivery in the match. After the incident, on-field umpire Virender Sharma gave the first warning to Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant.
Mishra was purchased by LSG in the IPL 2023 Auction for ₹50 lakhs. His experience will come in handy for KL Rahul and Co. and it could be the main reason behind LSG purchasing him. In 155 IPL fixtures, Mishra has scalped 168 wickets, including four four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket haul. He is also fourth in the all-time wicket-takers list in IPL history.
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