- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has lifted the ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season commencing on Saturday.
The decision was taken during the meeting of the captains and managers at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai after the majority of captains approved the proposal. The International Cricket Council (ICC) in May 2020 barred players from using saliva to polish the ball as a temporary measure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, in September 2022, it was permanently banned by the ICC. According to the Cricbuzz report, lifting a ban on saliva is one of the key decisions made by the BCCI and the IPL management for the upcoming season. The decision to lift the ban on the use of saliva came after India pacer Mohammed Shami had urged the authorities to revoke the saliva ban on the ball in international cricket to assist bowlers in getting reverse swing from the ball.
“We are trying to reverse but you are not getting the use of saliva into the game. We are constantly appealing to allow the use of saliva, and it will be interesting with the reverse swing,” Shami had said after a Champions Trophy game in Dubai recently. Another major decision made by the BCCI for the IPL 2025 is the second ball will come into play after the 11th over of the second innings in an IPL match to counter the impact of dew that often affects night-time matches, the report added. It also said that the BCCI has left the decision to the discretion of the umpires.
“It’s up to the umpires to determine whether the ball needs to be changed. They will decide based on the presence of dew,” Cricbuzz quoted a source as saying. As a result, this rule will primarily apply to night games and it is unlikely that a second ball will be used in afternoon matches, the report said.
Shami’s Request to lift Saliva Ban
Shami had previously spoken about the challenges of reverse swing without the use of Saliva, expressing his hopes that the ban would be reconsidered. “We are trying to get reverse swing, but the use of saliva on the ball is not allowed. We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring back reverse swing in the game”, Shami had said after India’s victory over Australia in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy.
Under the current IPL rules, players who are caught spitting on the ball face strict penalties. If a player is caught spitting on the ball for the third time, the team may face a fine of Rs. 10 lakh or 25% of the player’s match fee.
As the IPL season approaches, these proposed changes could bring significant shifts in how the game is played, particularly in terms of ball maintenance and decision reviews.
