Don’t think it’ll impact fast bowlers much: Deepak Chahar on saliva ban

Chahar reckons a fast bowler shouldn’t be worried about the ball swinging in ODIs or T20Is as the white ball traditionally moves only for a limited time.

 

New Delhi(Agencies): India medium pacer Deepak Chahar feels the absence of saliva won’t be felt as much in limited-overs as it will in the red-ball formats.

Chahar, who has recovered from the stress fracture he sustained in the back in December last year, reckons a fast bowler shouldn’t be worried about the ball swining in ODIs or T20Is as the white ball traditionally generates movement only for a limited time in the first few overs. The real concern for Chahar, lies in First-Class or Test matches.

 “I don’t think it will impact us so much because the white ball only swings for 2 overs. If we talk about the T20 format, the wicket is good for only two-three overs and the ball swings for three overs, so it reduces the need to shine the ball. The red ball requires a lot of shining,” he said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.

The ICC on Wednesday officially banned the use of saliva as a method to shine the ball when cricket resumes, with potential penalties handed out to offenders. Besides Chahar, left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat feels the same way, that the coat of while leather does not require as much sweat or saliva as does a red ball.

 “I think white ball won’t be a problem as a whole. Even in ODIs, you will be using two new balls 25 overs each. Reverse swing has never been a big factor in white-ball cricket,” Unadkat had told PTI last month. “White lacquer remains shiny even if you just rub it on your trousers while for red ball, the red lacquer and the red leather demands that we shine it more with saliva and sweat.”