New Delhi [India]: Bowlers will once again be permitted to use saliva on the ball in IPL 2025. The decision was confirmed following a meeting held at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday, where several franchise captains supported the move, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo.
The ban on saliva, introduced by the ICC during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, had been made permanent in September 2022. However, many fast bowlers had voiced concerns that the restriction diminished their ability to generate reverse swing, especially in white-ball cricket where two new balls are utilized.
Following India’s Champions Trophy victory, where Mohammed Shami played a crucial role with a three-wicket spell, the Indian pacer urged the ICC to reconsider the saliva ban.
“We are trying [to get reverse swing], but using saliva on the ball is not allowed. 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,” Shami had said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee echoed Shami’s sentiments, emphasizing the need for bowlers to have some advantage in modern cricket’s high-scoring conditions.
“That was a rule brought around COVID-19 with the virus going around the world, but I think as a bowler, you want to have a slight advantage. We see the game going the way it is going and seeing sides score 362, more often than not over 300 in this format. I think there needs to be something in the bowlers’ favour, and whether that’s a little bit of saliva, then yeah, I do not see why they could not afford to get that back in,” Southee had said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day programme during the New Zealand vs South Africa semifinal.
Fast bowlers believe that reinstating saliva use will also benefit Test cricket, enhancing their ability to utilize reverse swing effectively.