Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Thursday said that he had forgotten to use saliva in their earlier matches despite the ban being lifted, adding that he had forgotten it completely. The BCCI had lifted the Covid-19 pandemic time ban that ICC came up with after the meeting of IPL captains in Mumbai before the start of this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I forgot that I can use saliva. Yesterday when the staff told me, I didn’t know that I have to use it. I am not sure if it will help or not, but now that I remember, definitely in tomorrow’s match I will put some saliva and see if it helps or not,” Kumar said on the eve of their match against the Punjab Kings.
In March, India pacer Mohammad Shami had appealed to the ICC to lift the ban. Since 2011, two balls have been used per innings in ODIs. This means that balls are not as scuffed up as they used to be. Add to this the prohibition on using saliva, generating reverse swing has gotten much more difficult. “We are trying to reverse, but you are not getting the use of saliva into the game,” Shami had told reporters in Dubai.
Coming back to Friday’s contest and the Chinnaswamy deck, Bhuvneshwar said that they need to study the pitch which has been unusually favouring the bowlers in this IPL season.
“Yes, we know Chinnaswamy is known for batting, but look at the wicket, it is not the same as it used to be. I don’t know the reason, but yes, we will bowl or bat for the first few overs and then see how the wicket will play and then we will decide the things,” he said.
A former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain himself, Bhuvneshwar also lauded RCB leader Rajat Patidar for keeping the team together.
“The best thing is that he’s been calm. That’s what he needed, especially in this format. When you lose a match, the easy thing is to get panicked. We lost two matches, but he’s been the same whether we won or we lost. So, he’s been handling everything very well such as bowling changes. He’s been superb,” he said.
