RevSportz Comment
It’s been a few years now since we saw the cricket ball being ‘made’ as it used to be, with mid-on or mid-off applying some saliva and then rubbing it vigorously on the trouser front to get as much shine on one side as possible. Once the world came to grips with the Covid-19 pandemic, the shining continued, but with sweat. The spit and polish had become a thing of the past, a decades-old tradition abandoned because of legitimate health concerns.
Now, we’ll see it again in the IPL, with the rules being amended to allow it. It’s surely only a matter of time before international cricket too follows suit. For the casual watcher or someone new to the game, it looks like a disgusting habit that the game had done well to get rid of. But for the players, especially fast bowlers, it was a priceless arrow removed from the quiver.
Though no studies have conclusively proved that the application of saliva aids reverse swing, logic tells you that it would definitely help with keeping one side of the ball shinier. With reverse, the ball tails in, or out, in the direction of the shiny side, and over the 40 years before Covid, most teams had become adept at maintaining the ball just how they needed to in order for it to go ‘Irish’.
Unlike in Test cricket, where the natural wear and tear scuffs up one side of the ball less than halfway through its allotted 80 overs, the glassy smooth pitches in white-ball cricket don’t really make for much abrasion. The real damage is done when the ball cannons into boundary boards, concrete stands or rooftops when hit for four or six. Over the course of a 20-over innings, there’s barely time for the lacquer to wear off otherwise.
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The application of saliva only on one side is one possible way to try and create a weight imbalance which would get the ball to move a bit like a 40-over-old red ball might. Dare we say it, the likes of the infamous Murray Mints – Hello, England, Ashes 2005 – or their equivalent might also be involved as the quicks strive for a foothold in a format where almost every single rule or amendment is grossly in the batters’ favour.
The other change is also a welcome one. While over-rates are important, especially for broadcast schedules, the watching public would rather watch a dramatic encounter that spills over by a few minutes. What no one wants to see is a captain being suspended or banned for a crucial game like Rishabh Pant was last year, or like Hardik Pandya will be for Mumbai Indians’ season opener in 2025.
Such decisions – and let’s face it, the team taking five minutes too long to bowl 20 overs is hardly equivalent to a leg-breaking tackle in football – compromise sporting integrity, especially with playoff spots at stake. A demerit system which may eventually lead to a ban gives a captain the chance to set things in order.
Conveying messages to a disparate group that speak more than half a dozen different languages will always be a challenge, as will the heat and humidity of the summer months when the IPL is played. An extra drinks break to prevent cramps or worse is any day preferable to rushing through the overs and compromising on the quality of play.
People will whine about this, but at the end of the day, no fan is short-changed as long as they get the full 40 overs, with a complete cast of players. Time is sacrosanct, but there has to be leeway, especially in brutal conditions that previous generations never had to endure.
So, hygiene concerns and clock-watching aside, let the games begin.
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