After much brainstorming, the ICC has officially banned the use of Saliva by bowlers to shine the ball in all the formats of the game. authorities are considering the possibility of allowing artificial substances to be used to maintain the ball instead of saliva and sweat, to cut down the risk of the highly contagious infection when international cricket restarts.
Clearly, when the cricket resumes it will be a hell of a task for the bowlers to swing the ball as the effectiveness of the substance which replaces saliva will be under the scanner.
The cricketers around the world have a variety of opinions on this verdict by the ICC.
Australian opener David Warner has said there was no need to abolish the traditional ball-shining practices, when cricket resumes in the post COVID-19 world.
Warner said that the traditional practice of shining the ball has been going around for 'hundreds of years' and it should have been continued with.
Meanwhile, former India bowler Zaheer Khan has a completely different take on the issue. He reckoned that shining the ball with saliva doesn't just put the players at risk but also the crowd in attendance at the venue.
The subject of legalisation of ball tampering has led to divided opinions with West Indies pace great Michael Holding saying it is a bit 'self contradictory', while Proteas legend Allan Donald being open to the idea.
Among others, Sachin Tendulkar said players will be wary of using saliva to shine the ball, while Waqar Younis, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh have supported the use of spit.(UNI)
