Jasprit Bumrah wants saliva alternative to shine ball when cricket resumes
Jun 01, 2020
London [UK], June 1 : Raising concerns over being unable to shine the ball with saliva when cricket resumes, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah said he wants an alternative to maintaining the ball as the restriction poses difficulties for the bowlers.
Bumrah was speaking to Ian Bishop and Shaun Pollock on the ICC's video series Inside Out interviews.
"I was not much of a hugger anyway! And not a high-five person as well, so that doesn't trouble me a lot. The only thing that interests me is the saliva bit. I don't know what guidelines we'll have to follow when we come back, but I feel there should be an alternative," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Bumrah as saying.
"If the ball is not well maintained, it's difficult for the bowlers. The grounds are getting shorter and shorter, the wickets are becoming flatter and flatter. So we need something, some alternative for the bowlers to maintain the ball so that it can do something - maybe reverse in the end or conventional swing," he added.
The ICC had agreed with its cricket committee and said no saliva should be used to shine the ball due to threats regarding the coronavirus.
Reflecting on his unique bowling action, Bumrah said some people had doubts it but he had the belief that 'it could work'.
"I've never been to a professional coach as such (in his formative years). All my cricket is self-taught. Everything I learned was through television, watching videos... so I don't know how this action developed. There were always some people doubting that should I change it or not, but I've never really listened to them a lot. I always had belief that it could work," he said.
"...Growing up, wherever I went, the general feedback was that this guy won't be a top-rated bowler, he won't be able to play for a long period of time, he won't be able to do well as a bowler (because of his action). But the only validation that is required is your own validation," Bumrah added.
