Saliva gone, sweat and efforts remain bowlers' only friends

May I have your attention, please? Will the real ICC please stand up, please stand up? We're gonna have a problem here!

The vigorous shifting or rubbing just helps to create friction without having much wear on the ball. That, in turn, activates the fat in the leather and puts the grease on top - which is the shine on the ball. One side of the ball is nicely taken care by the bowlers, just like how ICC does take cares of their favourite possession - the batsmen. Without compromising on the hardness of the ball, it helps  bowlers swing the ball the way they want it to, exactly, no compromise. 

A lot, surprisingly, because why should the sport be lopsided. It is, in fact, astonishing that I have used the word lopsided when it is a complete mismatch. Every time we see a Test match that gets over in three days, the pitch automatically gets called for inspection because it's ‘poor’. In the past, we have seen two distinct high-profile Tests - India vs South Africa and India vs Australia - which have ended in just three days, with 40 wickets falling. The reason behind it was 'allegedly' simple - there was no fair contest between the bat and the ball. But then again, who are the ICC trying to kid? A pitch where there are 600 runs on offer is termed as a good one because it went till Day 4 but a pitch which has 40 wickets on offer is termed ‘bad.’

“Movement of the ball is the bowlers’ skill. It happens because of the shine on the ball. Saliva is a catalyst which can help you shine the ball. But essentially it is the skill of the bowler,” said Bharat Arun a few days ago on this issue. This is India’s bowling coach who put it down to the skills of the bowlers to perform beyond the limitations. Let’s be fair, in the world of cricket, bowlers are already oppressed so much that they need each and every tool - sometimes outside the legal purview, including maybe even using sandpaper to shine the ball.

In the legal purview surely, there are only few options available which could turn the table around and make it a level playing field. The first one being preparing a bowler-friendly wicket, which would favour the bowlers so much that they forget their dear friend, Mr Saliva. And it is not too much of an ask, considering that in the past, we have seen plenty of bowler-friendly wickets in domestic cricket, be it in India, England or Australia.

Moreso, a glance at the scorecards would highlight the amount of help the bowlers have had at the domestic level. If you are indeed putting it down to skills, then surely, the skilled batch of batsmen would get past this trouble with ease, cause they are skilled, aren't they? There is another option -  a feasible one, which surely can revolutionize the game. Instead of using Kookaburra, the use of the Dukes ball could help the bowlers without using any kind of body fluids, thanks to its quality. In fact, their competitor, Kookaburra too, revealed, that they have been working closely on a substance which will help shine the ball. But whichever rows the boat, at the end of the day, it should be used to elevate the sport to the level that it was originally intended to be.