CHENNAI: Come Saturday, the sight of bowlers and players using saliva to shine the ball will be a common sight during the Indian Premier League. The decision to lift the ban on using saliva in the league was taken during the all-captains meet that happened in Mumbai on Thursday. Apart from the revoking the ban, the BCCI has also introduced a ball change provision for the second innings of the matches to counter the dew factor. These new rules, among other things, were tabled at the meeting in the BCCI headquarters where all ten IPL captains were present.
The saliva ban, which came into effect at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020, was made permanent by the International Cricket Council in 2022. It has since been followed across the globe including the IPL. However, with the world having recovered from the pandemic and the days of quarantine and physical contact restrictions are long gone, several players, especially bowlers have made the request to revoke the ban on saliva usage as it hinders bringing reverse swing into play.
The latest among them was India pacer Mohammed Shami who spoke about it during the Champions Trophy in Dubai. "We are trying [to get reverse swing], but the usage of saliva on the ball is not allowed," Shami had told reporters after India's win over Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final. "We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring reverse swing back into the game and it becomes interesting."
Meanwhile, the provision to introduce the second ball to counter the dew advantage will also come into place this season. This will come into play after the 11th over of the second innings in an evening fixture wherein the captains will have the option to appeal to the umpires and ask for a change of ball. This might not apply for afternoon games. "Toss becomes very important given the dew at few grounds. There is a new rule which has been given to change the ball but it has to be with the consent of the umpires," a source said.
Apart from this, captains will not face match ban going forward for slow overrates. According to sources, the IPL will follow the ICC regulations in place which has demerit points for code of conduct breach which translates to suspension points. For slow over-rates, the ICC has match fee fines in place as well. In the IPL, too, the captain will face demerit points for slow over rate which might translate into fines but not necessarily face an immediate match-ban. Last year, Hardik Pandya faced a one-match ban after his third offence for slow over-rate because of which he will not be taking part in Mumbai Indians' opening game against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.