How much do the bowlers gain in a T20 game if they are allowed to salivate? Opinion appears to be divided on this, with Mohammed Shami strongly in favour of the usage of saliva on the ball and his India teammate Varun Chakravarthy not reading too much into it.
When the IPL captains met at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday, they were asked about their suggestions as regards lifting the saliva ban, a Covid era imposition in cricket, made permanent by the International Cricket Council in 2022. The skippers unanimously agreed and accordingly, the IPL decided to lift the saliva ban, to be effective from the 2025 season that gets underway on Saturday.
The common perception is that the use of saliva helps fast bowlers generate reverse swing with the older ball. But in a 20-over-a-side game where each bowler is allocated only four overs, rarely does reverse swing come into play. With Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL opener at Eden Gardens tomorrow, Varun spoke about the rule change.
“I did see the rule changes that have come. I don’t think it’s going to make too much difference regarding the saliva,” said the KKR spinner.
This is contrary to what Shami told reporters during the Champions Trophy. “We are trying to reverse, but we can’t use saliva on the ball,” the fast bowler had said, urging the ICC to lift the saliva ban.
Shami, though, made his observation in the context of 50-over cricket, where two balls have been used per innings.
RCB head coach Andy Flower agreed with Varun, as he said: “The saliva part, I mean, I don’t see it being that important.”
Another rule change that followed the captain’s meeting was about allowing two balls from the 11th over onwards in the second innings of a night game. Both Varun and Flower gave their thumbs up to that.
“Maybe the dew part, where you can change the ball, (it) might help the spinners,” said Varun. “And the moment they change the ball, the 11th, 12th and the 13th over, a spinner could be bowling.”
Flower spoke about the reluctance from the umpires to change the ball and expressed his happiness that now the captains can decide.