Dubai: Rajasthan Royals batsman Robin Uthappa has applied accidentally saliva on the ball while fielding against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Wednesday (September 30). This is a violation under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) COVID-19 protocols.
This incident took place just after Uthappa fielded a Sunil Narine’s shot in the fifth ball of the third over. He was seen putting saliva after assembling the ball at the halfway zone and the video of it has since gone viral on social media. So far, the IPL has not issued any statement on the occurrence so far. The ICC banned the use of saliva to shine the ball in June this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
— Cow Corner (@CowCorner9) September 30, 2020
“If a player does apply saliva to the ball, the umpires will manage the situation with some leniency during an initial period of adjustment for the players, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning,” it had stated in its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the game.
“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 recommenced,” the ICC notification read.
Chasing a commendable target of 175, KKR won the match by 37 runs to hop up the ladder to the second position in the list with back-to-back wins.
