Anil Kumble, the chief of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricket Committee which has recommended to ban the usage of saliva to shine the ball in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, said that the change was temporary.
The ban of saliva has prompted many to ask for an alternative substance to maintain the shine of the ball as they believed it would create an imbalance between batsmen and bowlers if the ball was not polished.
Speaking about that, the former India captain said that that the international governing body did not wish to legalise any external substance to shine the ball as it could pave the way for increasing incidents of ball-tampering.
“We did discuss that, but if you look back at the history of the game, I mean we have been very critical and we have been very focused on eliminating any external substances coming into the game whether you are literally legalising if you are looking to do that now which obviously has had a great impact over the last couple of years,” Kumble said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
Kumble, India’s highest international wicket-taker, also cited the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, which led to bans on Australian cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
“ICC took a decision, but then cricket Australia took even a tougher stance on what happened during that series between South Africa and Australia, so we did consider that but then this is only an interim measure and as long as we have hopefully control over COVID in a few months or a year’s time then I think things will go back to as normal as it can be,” he added.