Banning usage of saliva will take the game away from bowlers: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh, the veteran Indian off-spinner, reckons that banning saliva to shine the cricket leather could make it tough for bowlers going ahead. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and how contagious it has been, talks regarding the use of saliva have been doing the rounds for quite some time now. The issue has bothered a number of cricketers, especially the fast bowlers.

As per Harbhajan, saliva is an essential element after the ball gets old and loses its shine. The tweaker said that sweat can only work when the leather is relatively new. The Punjab-born said that after the coating goes away, using sweat only makes the ball heavier and nothing else. He fears that banning saliva could take the game further away from the fast bowlers.

This is not a permanent solution: Harbhajan Singh

“When the ball will get old, it will not shine with sweat, it will only make it heavier. Now saliva is thick and when we use it on the ball repeatedly, it helps the skin of the ball to shine. Sweat can wet the ball and make it heavy but it cannot shine the ball especially when it is old,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying in an interview with Sports Tak.

“This is not a permanent solution I think. If you don’t use saliva the bowler will go further away from the game. Especially in sub-continent conditions, you need to make the ball and you need saliva for that. We need to see what are the other options besides saliva which you can use on the ball to keep the contest between bat and ball even,” he added.

Recently, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricket committee recommended the use of spit whenever the sports resume after the global pandemic situation. The likes of Josh Hazlewood, David Warner and many other players have also voiced their opinions on the serious matter.

Earlier this month, Australia banned the use of saliva after the federal government released the guidelines for return of sports. When the ball gets old, it becomes tough for the pacers to get enough swing. That’s when the saliva comes into play and helps the seamers.