Ravichandran Ashwin reacts to Mohammed Shami’s plea to revoke the saliva ban

Mohammed Shami had urged the ICC to revoke the saliva ban; Ashwin reacted.

The saliva ban was introduced in May 2020 as a temporary measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then, fast-forward to 2022, the ban was made permanent. Mohammed Shami, after India’s victory against Australia in the semi-finals of the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, urged to revoke the ban on using saliva to shine the ball. He told reporters that the ban on saliva has made it harder to bowl reverse swing deliveries.

Ravichandran Ashwin reacts to Shami’s plea.

Since Shami pleaded for revoking the ban on saliva, former international bowlers R Ashwin, Vernon Philander and Tim Southee have come out in support. Speaking on his YouTube channel, R Ashwin, who retired from international cricket during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in controversial circumstances, had a message for ICC. He said, “ICC released some papers after research showed that saliva did not aid reverse swing much; not putting saliva on the ball has not made a huge difference. I do not know how they researched, but saliva should be allowed again if it is not a problem. Otherwise, cricketers have to get on with it.”

What did Tim Southee say about the saliva ban?

Tim Southee told ESPNCricinfo that the saliva ban has been a huge disadvantage for bowlers, leading to team totals exceeding 300 in ODIs. On the other hand, Vernon Philander felt that the use of saliva and reverse swing could have helped South Africa in their semi-final defeat to New Zealand.