South African speedster Lungi Ngidi believes that a damp towel could be a great alternative to shine the cricket ball in order to maintain the balance between bat and ball in the COVID-19 era.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned the use of saliva to polish the cricket ball on a temporary basis as a precautionary measure against the Coronavirus.

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The Proteas star believes that bowlers will have to find a new way to get the ball to swing to be effective, as the cricketing action set to resume amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

As per ESPNcricinfo, Ngidi said: “Once they said there's no saliva, a few of the batsmen posted on the group that now they are going to be driving on the up so already we can see what type of mentality the batsmen are coming with so now we have to find a game plan to get the ball to swing.”

The fast-bowler further added, “Probably a damp towel is the best thing but you've got to find something somehow, to shine it.”

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Meanwhile, former England spinner Monty Panesar had recently backed the idea of using wax to shine the cricket ball in the absence of saliva.

Panesar had said, “You can have wax which can be used throughout the Test match, you could apply it on the ball to shine the ball, this will be a good option. Look, at the end of the day you cannot make the game too batsmen friendly because then it will be difficult for the bowlers to take wickets.”

Noteworthy, the cricket matches will now be played at the empty stadiums and bio-secure venues under the COVID-19 guidelines set out by the ICC to tackle Coronavirus threat on the cricket field.

(With ESPNcricinfo/ANI Inputs)