Deepak Chahar Reckons Saliva Ban Will Not Affect Bowlers Much In White-Ball Cricket

Deepak Chahar, India and Chennai Super Kings seam and swing bowler, has reckoned that the ban on the usage of saliva will not have a great effect in white-ball cricket but is worried about its impact in First-Class and Test cricket.

The International Cricket Council [ICC] has officially banned the use of saliva on the cricket ball. The move has been met with criticism from both former as well as the current bowlers as saliva is an integral part as far as generating reverse-swing is concerned.

Chahar, who has fully recovered from the stress fracture that he suffered last December, feels that the impact of the saliva ban will not be as prominent in white-ball cricket as the white Kookaburra ball swings for a mere 2-3 years.

“I don’t think it will impact us so much because the white ball only swings for 2 overs. If we talk about the T20 format, the wicket is good for only two-three overs and the ball swings for three overs, so it reduces the need to shine the ball. The red ball requires a lot of shining,” he said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.

Jaydev Unadkat had also echoed the same views as Deepak Chahar’s last month

Besides Deepak Chahar, Saurashtra’s 2019-20 Ranji Trophy-winning captain Jaydev Unadkat also echoed the Rajasthan fast bowlers’ views. With two new balls already in place in One-day International cricket, Unadkat reckoned that reverse-swing has already gone out of the game in ODI cricket and with the white lacquer retaining its shininess, the left-arm fast bowler feels it doesn’t require much sweat as compared to the red ball.

“I think white ball won’t be a problem as a whole. Even in ODIs, you will be using two new balls 25 overs each. Reverse swing has never been a big factor in white-ball cricket,” Jaydev Unadkat had told PTI last month.

“White lacquer remains shiny even if you just rub it on your trousers while for red ball, the red lacquer and the red leather demands that we shine it more with saliva and sweat.”he added.

Also Read: Wasim Akram Warns Bowlers Could Become Robots In The Wake Of The Ban On Saliva