When the captains of all the 10 Indian Premier League franchises meet at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters on Thursday, there could be discussions on whether the ban on applying saliva on the ball could be lifted during the tournament.
The use of saliva was a common means for pacers across the world to keep the shine intact on one half of the old ball, helping in reverse swing.
The ICC though banned the age-old practice of applying saliva to shine the ball as a precautionary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic and made the ban permanent in 2022.
The IPL followed suit, taking on ICC’s ruling on the use of saliva since the pandemic ensued.
The IPL, too, followed the ICC guidelines and imposed a ban. However, during the ICC Champions Trophy, Mohammed Shami had spoken about the need to use saliva on the ball, which also had the backing of Tim Southee.
