Published: May 05, 2025, 06:09 PM (IST)
Edited: May 05, 2025, 06:12 PM (IST)
Indian veteran pacer Mohammed Shami has observed that the move by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to remove the ban from using saliva on the ball for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 has brought back the balance between bat and the ball in the league.
Before the 2025 edition of IPL began, BCCI lifted the ban on using saliva to polish the ball, and also introduced the “two ball” rule in order to face dew in night matches. This gave the bowlers a much-needed breather as things had been asking for changes in bowling rules.
“For a long time, the rules have favoured batters – but now, things are finally shifting a bit,” Shami said on JioHotstar.
“After COVID, the saliva ban made it tough to reverse the ball, but with that lifted, bowlers can finally get some swing back. Also, being able to change a wet ball is a big plus — a dry ball gives better grip and life, especially in tough conditions,” he added.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had banned this practice of applying saliva in order to shine the ball as a precautionary measure during COVID-19. The ICC then made this ban permanent in 2022, and the IPL also applied this ban in their playing conditions. However, the BCCI seemed to have taken it seriously, and, considering things being completely normal after the global pandemic, they decided to allow players to use saliva on the balls.
“Using saliva on the ball was part of the essence of the game until COVID hit. Now that we don’t have that threat anymore, we feel there is no harm in lifting the ban on saliva in the IPL,” a top BCCI official told PTI.
It is worth noting that the BCCI made the decision to lift the ban from using saliva after a statement by Mohammed Shami himself. Though the pacer had no intention to point out the cricket board on their decision, he had just shared his thought on not being able to use saliva to polish the ball.
