Bowlers will be allowed to use saliva to shine the cricket ball in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), reversing the ban imposed during the Covid pandemic five years ago, reports say.
Indian cricket’s governing body’s decision came after a majority of the tournament’s franchise captains supported the move during a meeting on Thursday, ESPNcricinfo said.
A temporary saliva ban was introduced in May 2020 on medical advice during the pandemic, with use of sweat still permitted. The International Cricket Council (ICC) made the ban permanent in September 2022.
Players use saliva and sweat to polish one side of the ball in order to make it swing in the air.
The use of saliva was banned to reduce potential transmission of the Covid infection.
Saliva helps fast bowlers maintain the ball’s shine, creating an imbalance that aids swing, a key element in cricket’s bowling mechanics for more than a century.
It also helps bowlers generate reverse swing, where the ball moves in the opposite direction to what is expected. This is particularly important in dry conditions or with older balls.
Saliva is more effective in red-ball cricket, typically used in Tests, than in white-ball formats like ODIs and T20s.
In red-ball cricket, the ball is used for a longer period, allowing bowlers to shine one side and help generate reverse swing.
It remains unclear whether the International Cricket Council (ICC) will lift the saliva ban for red-ball cricket, following the Indian cricket board’s decision to lift it for the world’s richest T20 league. The ICC is led by Jay Shah, former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the world’s wealthiest cricket board.
The change will come into effect from Saturday when IPL 2025 – its 18th edition – kicks off with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) facing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Eden Gardens. The tournament will feature 74 matches across 13 cities over two months.
Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, who is playing for the Gujarat Titans franchise, has welcomed the decision.
“It’s excellent news for us bowlers because when the ball is not doing anything, applying saliva on the ball will increase the chances of finding some reverse swing,” Siraj told Press Trust of India news agency.
“It sometimes aids reverse swing because scrubbing the ball against the shirt will not help [to get reverse swing]. But using saliva on the ball will help in maintaining [the shine on one side], and it is important.”
Mohammed Shami, another Indian fast bowler, had earlier this month called on the ICC to lift the ban.
After India’s Champions Trophy semi-final win over Australia, he said, “We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring reverse swing back into the game and make it interesting.”
Shami’s plea was supported by former international bowlers Vernon Philander and Tim Southee.
Recently, Indian spin great R Ashwin, who recently retired from international cricket, had said that he too was confused by the ban.
“ICC released some research papers which said that saliva did not aid reverse swing much and that not putting saliva on the ball has not made a huge difference. I don’t know how they did the research, but saliva should be allowed anyways if it is not a problem,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Sports writer Sharda Ugra says the lifting of the ban on saliva could help make the contest between bat and ball “more even”.
Many believe the odds are stacked against the bowlers in T20 leagues with batter-friendly wickets. The highest IPL total, set in 2013 with RCB’s 263 for five against Pune, was surpassed four times in 2024. In 17 seasons, there have been 10 totals crossing 250 runs.
However, Ugra adds that it’s not clear how much impact the lifting of the ban will have on bowling.
“Saliva isn’t the only factor in generating swing – conditions must also be ideal, and a skilled bowler is key,” she told the BBC.
Some former fast bowlers like India’s Venkatesh Prasad also had a word of caution about change.
“The ban on applying saliva was also about maintaining cleanliness. Anything can happen today, we don’t know how many – and when – a new virus enters the air. So, I think you need to be very careful in making a decision about lifting the ban,” Prasad told The Times of India newspaper earlier this month.
