ICC has banned the use of saliva on the cricket ball in wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) cricketer Robin Uthappa forgot that the use of saliva to shine the cricket ball was banned by ICC in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was spotted applying saliva on the ball during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2020.
After dropping the catch of Sunil Narine and Uthappa applied saliva in the third over of KKR's innings. ICC has already made it clear that the use of saliva is banned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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As per the rules, a team can be issued up to two warnings per innings but repeated use of saliva on the ball will result in a 5-run penalty to the batting side. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences.
Talking about the match, Rajasthan lost the match by 37 runs. It was not a good game for Uthappa as he could score only 2 runs off seven deliveries. RR lost 9 wickets in their innings and there was a lack of partnership that never kept them in the chase.