New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has lifted a ban on the use of saliva by bowlers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season after franchise captains overwhelmingly backed the move during a meeting with IPL officials at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai Thursday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the ban on using saliva to polish the ball in May 2020 as a temporary COVID-19 pandemic measure. However, in September 2022, the ICC made the ban permanent.
The ban was lifted after Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami revived the debate over the use of saliva during the recently concluded Champions Trophy, urging the ICC to rescind the ban on using saliva to shine the ball.
“We are trying [to get reverse swing], but usage of saliva on the ball is not allowed,” Shami had told reporters after India’s win over Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final. “We keep appealing that we should be allowed to use saliva so that we can bring reverse swing back into the game and it becomes interesting,” he added.
India and Gujarat Titans fast bowler Mohammed Siraj welcomed the BCCI’s decision.
“It’s very good for bowlers. 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 PTI. “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,” he added.
According to ESPNcricinfo, several captains concurred that the ban on using saliva as a polishing agent, implemented by the ICC and adopted by member boards across all levels of cricket, had adversely impacted bowlers, particularly in restricting reverse swing, which has become a rarity in white-ball cricket, including ODIs where two new balls are used.
Shami’s plea gained support from former international bowlers Vernon Philander and Tim Southee.
Southee, speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day, echoed Shami’s sentiments, saying “That was a rule brought around Covid with the virus going around the world, but I think as a bowler, you want to have a slight advantage.”
“We see the game going the way it’s going and seeing sides score 362 (New Zealand’s first innings score against South Africa in the second semi-final of Champions Trophy 2025) and more often than not over 300 in this format. I think there needs to be something in the bowlers’ favour, and whether that’s a little bit of saliva, then yeah, I don’t see why they couldn’t afford to get that back in,” he added.
Legendary off-spinner R. Ashwin also lent his support to Shami’s plea. Ashwin believed the ICC should reconsider the ban on using saliva, citing their official research report that suggests it doesn’t significantly aid reverse swing. “I do not know how they did the research, but saliva should be allowed again if it is not a problem. Otherwise, cricketers have to get on with it,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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“Swing is a temptress”
After the ban on using saliva as a polishing agent, bowlers were permitted to use sweat to shine the ball and several prominent voices in the game advocated for the approval of an artificial substance as a saliva substitute. Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah suggested at the time that “there should be some alternative for the bowlers to maintain the ball”.
The debate over saliva’s effectiveness stems from its unique properties in aiding swing, an essential aspect of cricket.
According to English cricket commentator Mark Nicholas, “Swing is a temptress and swing at speed is a killer. Swing surprises, shocks, disappoints and delights.”
The aerodynamics of a cricket ball are majorly influenced by its surface condition, making maintenance crucial for bowlers. The application of saliva creates a smooth and polished side while leaving the other side rough, inducing an asymmetry in weight distribution.
This asymmetry enables fast bowlers to generate conventional and reverse swing, resulting in unpredictable lateral movement of the ball in the air even if the ball is older.
Notably, a new ball exhibits no swing when held upright, but when the seam is angled, it creates a pressure gradient, inducing swing in the direction of the seam.
The reason sweat isn’t as effective as saliva in polishing cricket balls is due to its composition. Saliva contains mucous, which forms a smooth film on the ball, enabling swing.
Additionally, the mucous helps to create a subtle weight imbalance on one side of the ball, further enhancing its swing potential.
Sweat, lacking mucous, is more watery and less effective at creating a smooth surface, hindering the ball’s ability to swing.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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