AUS vs PAK 2022 | Permanent saliva ban is not a big deal, opines Pat Cummins
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has said that the use of saliva for shining the ball was not having a huge effect and so permanent ban on its use by Marylbone Cricket Club is no big deal ahead of the third Test against Pakistan. The final Test of the series will be played in Lahore from March 21.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has made some changes to the laws of the game recently. One of such major decisions was the permanent ban on the use of saliva for shining the ball. The laws will be in effect later this year. MCC had revealed that applying saliva had no impact on ball’s movement according to research. Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has replicated the same thoughts and said that the permanent saliva ban will not be a big deal.
"I don't think so (permanent saliva ban will hamper the performance of the swing bowlers)," Cummins said to the reporters ahead of the Lahore Test.
"I don't think it has made a huge effect, as big as we might have thought it would. We can still use sweat so it's not too big a deal.”
Cummins became the most expensive foreign player in the IPL 2019 as he was bought for Rs 15.50 Crore by Kolkata Knigth Riders (KKR). He will once again turn out for the same franchise as they bought him for Rs 7.25 Crore in the mega auction. The team have named Shreyas Iyer as the captain for the upcoming edition. Cummins expressed his excitement to play for KKR and spoke about his experience of sharing the same dressing room with Shreyas.
"Really excited. It's been great that most of the squad has been able to kept together. So, most of the players and staff know really really well," he said.
"Shreyas, I played with at Delhi(Daredevils), we got on really well. He's seem like a very calm guy and seems in form at the moment. I'm so excited to go over there, I have some close friends I will be playing alongside, can't wait.”
Virat Kohli is of the great batsman currently in the world and has been established as one of the greats of the game already. Pakistan captain Babar Azam who scored a terrific 196 in the second Test against Australia often compared with Kohli. Comparing the two batsmen Cummins said that they both are complete batters while playing any format.
"They are both really complete batters no matter what format you play, they present their challenges." "They are both really high quality (players), both have scored centuries against Australia over the years,” he explained.