Ben Stokes Applies Saliva On Ball By Mistake, Warned By Umpires

Ahmedabad: England all-rounder Ben Stokes had a moment of embarrassment on the field at the swanky Narendra Modi Stadium here on Thursday.

By mistake, he applied saliva on the ball on Day 1 of the pink ball Test against India, prompting umpire Nitin Menon to speak to him and remind him about the law. The ball was sanitised before Stuart Broad delivered the next delivery in the 12th over of the Indian innings.

Shining the ball with saliva used to be a big ‘weapon’ for bowlers, especially the pacers. But following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic last year, International Cricket Council (ICC) banned saliva from being applied on the cricket ball from June 2020.

The umpires can penalisz a team with a 5-run penalty if bowlers continue to use saliva even after being warned twice in an innings.

India dominated the opening day of the third Test, skittling out England for 112 thanks to left-arm spinner Axar Patel’s haul of 6 for 38. At stumps, India replied with 99 for 3 as opener Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten with 57.