Make challenging pitches if sweat doesn’t work: Dravid on saliva ban

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was asked to give his opinion on the matter and he suggested a wait and watch policy. Dravid said that sweat can help in shining the ball and it could be given a shot in the upcoming series between England and West Indies.

The International Cricket Council on Tuesday approved interim changes in its playing regulations to combat the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The change in rule that is expected to impact cricket the most is the ban on the use of saliva to shine cricket balls.

File photo of Rahul Dravid (Getty Images)

Many cricket experts and former players are of the opinion that this will lead to fast bowlers not getting any help in terms of the ball swinging in the air as saliva helps keep the shine on one side of the ball.

This they feel will make batting easier and give batsmen an advantage. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram went to the extent of saying that bowlers will become ‘robots’ as a result of this change and suggested the use of artificial substance, within permissible amount, to help fast bowlers.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was asked to give his opinion on the matter on Sony Ten Pitstop and he suggested a wait and watch policy. Dravid said that sweat can help in shining the ball and it could be given a shot in the upcoming series between England and West Indies.

“The series between England and West Indies is going to be a good test. There will be a lot of learning for everyone. A lot people are saying that in England if you use sweat it has the same effect you have with saliva, so it shouldn’t stop you from shining the ball.

“I am not sure if they will allow a foreign substance on the ball. I think they will first try it with sweat and if it produces the same effect then you don’t need to do anything,” Darvid opined.

He also suggested that if sweat is not able to produce desired results then the pitch can be made more challenging for batsmen to make the battle between bat and ball more balanced.

“The other thing that can be done is you make the wickets a little more challenging. Whether you make them greener or if they assist more pace and bounce or make tracks that turn a little bit more.

“What you want is a good contest between bat and ball. That is what we are trying to achieve. And if that can’t be achieved for the short span of time then you create tougher wickets to get that and it will be great cricket to watch,” the former India number 3 said.