Saliva ban could make the game batsman dominated, feels Ishant Sharma

The International Cricket Council, on Tuesday, reaffirmed that it has decided to ban the use of saliva to shine the ball amid the COVID-19 pandemic and also confirmed that a five-run penalty will be imposed on teams who fail to adhere to the rules. Ever since the governing council had announced the possible ban on saliva, which was last month, many have expressed their opinions on the same. Now senior India pacer Ishant Sharma admitted that the ban on usage of saliva for ball shining will make things easy for batsmen making it a batsman-dominated game, which won’t be fair on the bowlers.

Sharma stressed that it needs to be ensured that the competition remains fair in both departments. Ishant, who has represented Team India in 97 Tests and has bagged 297 wickets, deduced that if the bowlers don't shine the red ball, it won’t produce the necessary amount of swing, thus helping the batsmen.

"If we don't shine the red ball, it doesn't swing and if it doesn't swing then it becomes really easy for the batsman. I think the competition should be fair and not a batsman dominated game," the 31-year-old said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

Primarily in Test cricket, the use of saliva becomes essential as it is used on a new ball while sweat is used on the old ball when reverse swing comes into play. So sweat, as suggested by Anil Kumble’s ICC Cricket Committee, cannot be an alternative to saliva entirely. The 31-year-old pacer further stressed that bowlers will need to take special precautions to ensure that they don't use saliva as it is an old practice which is integral to the game.

"I feel that the most important thing will be avoiding the use of saliva on the ball and refraining from shining the ball. We will have to take special precautions for this as we are used to shining the ball, especially the red ball," he added.