Recognising how hard it will be for the bowlers without being able to use saliva to maintain the shine of the cricket ball, Gautam Gambhir expressed reservations on likely ban over the traditional practice by ICC for life post COVID-19 pandemic and urged the authorities to come out with a proper alternative.
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The ICC Cricket Committee has recommended a ban on using the saliva to shine the ball as has been traditionally done by teams over the years.
That, along with other recommendations of the committee, will be officially ratified during the ICC board meeting on May 28.
"It will be the hardest thing for the bowlers. The ICC has to come out with an alternative. Without shining the ball, I don't think it will be an even contest between bat and ball," Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India, told IANS.
"If they don't allow using saliva, they will have to come up with an alternative to help the bowlers to shine the ball. It's going to be very important otherwise there would be no fun watching cricket," he added.
Gambhir also believes players will initially feel apprehensive about stepping on the park when cricket resumes. "It depends from individual to individual (fear in mind of cricketers). But yes there will be little apprehensions, when they go out and play," he said. "Probably after some time, it will go in the heat of the game once players are on the pitch and will ease into the game and will be excited to be out and playing."
Fitness may not be as big an issue, given each player must've been given a detailed programme to follow, but skill improvement is something Gambhir thinks has definitely been affected amid the lockdown.
"It is not difficult from the fitness point of view as athletes have become very professional and they have their own schedules and programs and which they can follow. Lot of people have their own spaces or gyms."
"But from a skill point of view it is very difficult, as till the time you don't go outside and practise your skill, it will be difficult to improve your skills," said the 2011 World Cup-winner.
"And on a mental level, it is much more fresher, as you can start working on the game, thinking what needs to be improved and what needs to be worked on. Fitness and mental stuff won't be an issue but honing skills is a concern till the time they don't go out and play," he added.
On that, Gambhir welcomed the Indian government's plan to allow stadiums to re-open without crowd-presence for the fourth phase of the lockdown.
"It is good that the government has allowed them to train behind closed doors. It is good to know things are getting normal and going towards that. It is good to see that things are going towards normalcy, which is very important," he said.
Regarding the prospects of T20 World Cup happening on time, from October 18 till November 15 in Australia, Gambhir is hoping all cricket boards, as well as the ICC, will be on the same page before deciding the fate of the showpiece event.
"It depends on BCCI, ICC and the other boards, what they believe in. They have to get all the various stakeholders involved, including all cricketing nations and they have to come together and decide."
"All the cricketing nations if they come together on board then the T20 World Cup will go ahead, otherwise I don't see it happening," he concluded.
(Inputs from IANS)
