Mohammed Shami Calls for Major ICC Rule Change During Champions Trophy 2025.
Photo : AP
Mohammed Shami, the 35-year-old Indian seamer, has called upon the International Cricket Council (ICC) to lift the ban on using saliva on the cricket ball. Lamenting the absence of reverse swing in modern cricket, Shami appealed to the governing body to revisit the rules and allow bowlers to shine the ball with saliva.
“We are trying to reverse, but you are not getting the use of saliva into the game. We are constantly appealing to allow the use of saliva, and it will be interesting with the reverse swing,” Shami said after the Champions Trophy semifinal against Australia in Dubai.
“I am trying to get my rhythm back and contribute more to the team. It is a responsibility when there are no two proper pacers, and I have to shoulder more responsibility,” Mohammad Shami said.
However, players can still use their body sweat to offer some shine on the ball.
Shami also admitted playing in Dubai 'helped' India. "It definitely helped us because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch," Shami said, as quoted by AFP, after his 3/48 spell dismantled Australia in the knockout clash. "It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue."
However, head coach Gautam Gambhir had a completely different viewpoint.
"There’s a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven’t practiced here even for a day. We’re practicing at the ICC Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different.
"If you look at the wickets there and here, the difference is between the ground and the sky. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They’ve got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that,” Gambhir said.
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