Amid the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has hinted that they might limit the usage of the saliva to shine the balls during the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, beginning in Dharmashala on March 12.
However, stating that maintaining the shine of the ball is an important aspect of a bowler’s game, the 31-year-old said that the final decision regarding it will be taken by the team doctor.
“We have thought about this thing (not using saliva) but I can’t say right now we will not use saliva because if we don’t use saliva then how will we shine the ball. Then we will get hit and you people will say you are not bowling well,” PTI quoted Bhuvneshwar as saying.
The pacer, who has made a return to the Indian team after a longstanding injury crisis, said the team are taking every precaution possible to deal with the disease.
The fear surrounding the deadly disease has also raised a doubt regarding the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Many have voiced their concern and stated the tournament should either be postponed or played behind closed doors, like many other sports events across the world.
Bhuvneshwar, though, refused to speculate anything about it and said, “You cannot say anything right now because it’s taking a dangerous situation in India. But we are taking every precaution we can take.”
Meanwhile, India and South Africa will travel to Lucknow on March 15 to play the second ODI of the three-match series before turning up at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 19 for the final match of the series.