India pacer Mohit Sharma said umpires these days don't allow bowlers to use saliva on the ball due to the threat of the coronavirus.
"It will be interesting to see what decision is made. Every bowler has their personal choices in this matter. I don't use a lot of saliva for shining the ball, in fact, these days umpires don't let bowlers use too much saliva. I would be okay with using sweat as well to shine the ball." Sharma said while answering about the speculation around legalising ball-tampering during an Instagram Live session on Delhi Capitals' official handle.
The 31-year-old pacer is training for five days a week, with a focus on recovery on the other two days.
Earlier, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood said that using saliva on the ball is something that needs to be discussed after the world comes back to normal.
"I think the white ball would be fine, but Test cricket would be very hard. Bowlers rely on any sort of sideways movement in the air. If you didn't maintain the ball at all for 80 overs it would be quite easy to bat after that initial shine has gone," ESPNCricinfo had quoted Hazelwood as saying.
"Whether you use saliva or sweat, maybe one person can do it. I'm not sure. It's something that will have to be talked about when we get back out there and hopefully come up with a solution," he added.
The whole sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it is perhaps the right time to contemplate as to what will happen to cricket's oldest traditions once the sport gears back into action.
One tradition only specific to cricket is of applying 'saliva' on the ball to assist the bowlers to get the swing. Shining the ball is a major thing for bowlers in trying to extract some swing from the match. As the game starts swaying in favour of batsmen by each passing day, bowlers have to try everything they can in trying to trouble the batsmen.
( With inputs from ANI )
