Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar believes that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should roll back the saliva ban to help bowlers shine the ball better. In 2020, the ICC took the decision to stop the spread of Covid-19 virus among players along with other restrictions like bio-bubble and no handshaking.
The ICC also introduced five-runs penalty if a player is found using saliva on the ball. The first time the rule was broken was during a Nepal vs UAE encounter when Alishan Shafaru used saliva to shine the ball.
“I am not a medical expert, but saliva on the ball should be back. It has happened for over 100 years and nothing drastic has happened. Yes, the decision was rightly taken in 2020 but that is now behind us. Now, it is something that should be considered,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying on the 20th edition of the India Today Conclave.
The all-time highest run-scorer in international cricket feels that he has seen more unhygienic acts from bowlers to shine the ball.
“If you think that is unhygienic, I have seen guys putting the ball under their armpit. Saliva is important when the ball is new. The texture of saliva is slightly different to your sweat. You make one side heavy and keep the other side light... we don't touch the other side of the ball light. The imbalance of the weight helps you swing the ball,” he added.
Earlier, Australian skipper Pat Cummins had asked the apex cricket board to allow the use of an artificial wax-like substance which will work as an alternative to saliva. However, the ICC did not take into account and till now bowlers are allowed to use only sweat to shine the ball.
During the conclave, the 49-year-old also recalled funny incident with former teammate Harbhajan Singh in the nets in 1990s. Also, he talked about the criticism around Test matches lasting in three days. The 'Master Blaster' believes that Test cricket needs to be engaging and one should not worry about how many days it lasts.
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