Quiters will be allowed to use Saliva to make the cricket ball shine in the next Indian Premier League (IPL), reversing the imposed ban during the cocovio covers five years ago, according to reports.
The decision of the Indian Cricket, the master body occurred after the majority of the franchise captains of the tournament supported this decision at a meeting on Thursday, said Espncricinfo.
A temporary saliva ban was introduced in May 2020 on medical advice during the pandemic, with the use of sweat always authorized. The International Cricket Council (ICC) made a permanent ban in September 2022.
Players use saliva and sweat to polish one side of the ball in order to swing it in the air.
The use of saliva has been prohibited to reduce the potential transmission of the cocvid infection.
Saliva helps quick quisors to maintain the shine of the ball, creating an imbalance that helps swing, a key element of cricket bowling mechanics for more than a century.
It also helps quaisors to generate a reverse swing, where the ball moves in the opposite direction to what is expected. This is particularly important in dry conditions or with older bullets.
Saliva is more effective in red ball cricket, generally used in tests than in white ball formats like ODI and T20.
In the red ball cricket, the ball is used for a longer period, allowing the questions to shine on one side and to help generate an inverted swing.
It is not yet known whether the International Cricket Council (ICC) will raise the saliva ban for the red ball cricket, following the Decision of the Indian Cricket Board to raise it for the richest T20 League in the world. The ICC is led by Jay Shah, former secretary of the Cricket Control Council in India (BCCI), the richest cricket council in the world.
The change will come into force on Saturday when the IPL 2025 – its 18th edition – will start with the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Eden Gardens. The tournament will include 74 games in 13 cities over two months.
Indian fast launcher Mohammed Siraj, who plays for the Gujarat Titans franchise, praised the decision.
“This is excellent news for us, because when the ball does nothing, the application of saliva on the ball will increase the chances of finding an inverted swing,” Siraj told Press Trust of India News Agency.
“It sometimes helps the reverse swing because cleaning the ball against the shirt will not help (to obtain a reverse swing). But the use of saliva on the ball will help (the brilliance on one side), and that’s important.”
Mohammed Shami, another Indian fast launcher, had called the ICC earlier this month to raise the ban.
After the victory in the semi-finals of the India Champions Trophy against Australia, he said: “We continue to appeal that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring back the reverse swing in the game and make it interesting.”
Shami’s advocacy was supported by former international quisors Vernon Philander and Tim Southee.
Recently, the Indian spin Great R Ashwin, who recently retired from international cricket, said he was also confused by the ban.
“ICC has published research articles that said that saliva did not help to reverse the swing and that not put saliva on the ball did not make a huge difference. I do not know how they did the research, but saliva should be authorized anyway if it is not a problem,” he said on his YouTube channel.
The sports writer Sharda Ugra says that the lifting of the prohibition of saliva could help to make the competition between the bat and the ball more “more”.
Many believe that the chances are stacked against quisors in the T20 leagues with friendly counters. The highest total IPL, scheduled for 2013 with the RCB 263 for five against Pune, was exceeded four times in 2024. In 17 seasons, 10 totals crossed 250 points.
However, UGRA adds that it is not clear to what extent of the ban will have an impact on the bowling alley.
“Saliva is not the only factor to generate a swing-the conditions must also be ideal, and a qualified launcher is the key,” she told the BBC.
Some former rapid quarremen such as Venkatesh Prasad in India also had a word of caution on change.
“The prohibition of the application of saliva also aimed to maintain cleanliness. Everything can happen today, we do not know how much – and when – a new virus enters the air. So, I think you need to be very careful to make a decision to lift the ban,” Prasad told the Times of India newspaper this month.
