|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh spinners and pacers are in dilemma over the ban of saliva by the International Cricket Council as they feel it will have a huge impact on their games in the upcoming days.

The fielding team always uses saliva or sweat to maintain the shine of the ball which is an important part of the game but as the coronavirus spreads mostly through human droplets ICC has put an embargo overusing saliva or sweat as a shiner.

ICC on Tuesday ratified interim changes to playing regulations that include COVID-19 substitutes for Test cricket and the ban on use on saliva to shine the ball among others.

With a view to reducing the risk of the spread of the Coronavirus protect and ensure the safety of players and match officials once cricket resumes, the Anil Kumble-led Cricket Committee had made several recommendations which have now been ratified by the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC).

Despite opposition to the cricket committee's saliva ban, the ICC has remained steadfast in forbidding the use of saliva to shine the ball.

The ICC though has offered to be lenient during the initial adjusting phase, to account for involuntary habits.

However, warnings will come into the picture for serial offenders. A team will be warned up to two times by the umpires before they award a five-run penalty to the batting side. The application of saliva, unintentional or otherwise, would see the umpires disinfecting the ball before another delivery is sent down.

ICC cricket committee chairman Anil Kumble claimed that the ban on using saliva and sweat to shine the ball will help spinners, though spinners disagreed.

‘’Spinners also need swing sometimes like pacers. When we do arm bowl it gets to swing. And if the ball starts to spin, it is possible to drift. What else needed if we are able to do these two things! If the ball is not shining then there will be no good drift,’’ said Razzak.

‘’I think it will put all the bowlers in a disadvantaged situation, there is no advantage for anybody but the pacers will be more affected than the spinners. I think if the shine is not maintained, spinners will also face trouble. If the ball is shiny on one side and rough on the other side, it helps us to get the drift from the pitch. We can drift the ball in both ways,’’ he said.

‘’Any artificial leather shiner might make the surface oily and slippery which will make the ball hard to grip. I don’t think all the players can use it evenly, so it will rather be damaging than good,’’ he added pointing his fingers on Australian company kookaburra was coming up with a new artificial shiner but ICC is yet to permit the use of such product.

Taijul, who is currently leading Bangladesh’s spin attack in Tests in the absence of Sakib al Hasan, echoed the same sentiment.

"The bowl gets damaged quickly due to the sweat. Applying sweat on the bowl means applying water on the bowl. It will be difficult to keep the bowl shining now. We have to do as much as we can just by rubbing on the trousers,’’ said Taijul.