The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday lifted the ban on the use of saliva on the ball in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) after the majority of captains agreed to its proposal.
The decision was taken at the captains’ meeting in Mumbai.
“The saliva ban has been lifted. The majority of captains were in favour of the move,” a top BCCI official told a news agency.
Notably, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had banned the practice of applying saliva to shine the ball as a precautionary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, before making it a permanent ban in 2022.
However, during the ICC Champions Trophy, cricketer Mohammed Shami spoke about the need to use saliva on the ball, which also had the backing of Tim Southee.
As per the existing playing conditions, if it is the first instance of applying saliva on the ball, the fielding team’s captain is summoned and issued a first warning.
After the second instance during an innings, the captain of the fielding side is issued a second and final warning that any further such offence by any member of the team shall result in that member of the team being fined by BCCI.
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With the development on Thursday, the IPL becomes the first major cricketing event to re-introduce saliva’s use after the Covid-19 pandemic.
