We need an alternative to saliva, says Bumrah

With grounds getting smaller and pitches flatter, it’s already a batsman’s game

NEW DELHI: JASPRIT Bumrah won’t miss the hugs and high-fives as part of a wicket celebration but he will certainly miss applying saliva on the ball and feels an alternative should be provided to maintain the red cherry. ICC Cricket Committee, led by former India captain Anil Kumble, recommended a ban on using saliva on the ball as an interim measure to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the committee did not allow the use of artificial substances as a substitute. The new rule makes life tougher for the bowlers and Bumrah, like many former and current fast bowlers, feels there ought to be an alternative.

“I was not much of a hugger anyway and not a high-five person as well, so that doesn’t trouble me a lot. The only thing that interests me is the saliva bit,” said Bumrah in a chat with Ian Bishop and Shaun Pollock on ICC’S video series ‘Inside Out’. “I don’t know what guidelines we’ll have to follow when we come back, but I feel there should be an alternative,” he added.

Bumrah said not being able to use saliva makes the game more batsman-friendly. “If the ball is not well maintained, it’s difficult for the bowlers. The grounds are getting shorter and shorter, the wickets are becoming flatter and flatter. So we need something, some alternative for the bowlers to maintain the ball so that it can do something— maybe reverse in the end or conventional swing.”

When former West Indian pacer Bishop pointed out that the conditions have been favourable to the fast bowlers over the last couple of years, Bumrah nodded in agreement. “In Test cricket, yes. That is why it’s my favourite format, because we have something over there. But in one-days and T20s. One-day cricket there

are two new balls, so it hardly reverses at the end. We played in New Zealand, the ground (boundary) was 50m. So even if you are not looking to hit a six, it will go for a six. In Tests I have no problem, I’m very happy with the way things are going.”

He finds it amusing that the batsmen keep complaining about the swinging ball. “Whenever

you play, I’ve heard the batsmen—not just in our team, everywhere—complaining the ball is swinging. But the ball is supposed to swing! The ball is supposed to do something! We are not here just to give throwdowns, isn’t it? (laughter) This is what I tell batsmen all the time. In one-day cricket, when did the ball reverse last, I don’t know.

Nowadays the new ball doesn’t swing a lot as well. So whenever I see batsmen say the ball is swinging or seaming and that is why I got out—the ball is supposed to do that. Because it doesn’t happen so much in the other formats, it’s a new thing for the batsmen when the ball is swinging or seaming,” said the 26-year-old.