Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar suggests that a new cricket ball be used in the game after every 45-50 overs.
It may be recalled that the ICC has banned the use of saliva to shine cricket balls so as not to spread COVID-19. After the said announcement, several cricket players and icons had voiced out their opinions with regards to the saliva ban. One of those is Indian cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar.
On a virtual chat, Tendulkar explained how important it is to apply saliva or sweat to shine cricket balls. He also emphasized the similarities of the challenges in Test matches in comparison to limited-overs format.
He said, ‘So, here in Test cricket, if you are not going to allow saliva, and sometimes you won't sweat as much depending on the climate where you are playing, it could be a lot like day/night one-dayers. In ODI cricket, bowling when conditions are dry in day-night matches and bowling second when there is a lot of dew on the ground...so on paper the conditions and the rules are exactly the same, but on field conditions are totally different, it's like chalk and cheese’.
‘But why not then to get the game moving, have a new ball after every 45-50 or 55 overs because in ODI cricket we have to play only 50 overs, and you have two new balls there, so literally 25 overs, so that's it’, he added.
Tendulkar has also suggested some changes in the past where he asked to include the two innings per side concept in ODIs. His recent suggestion, which is to use a new ball after every 45-55 overs, will be beneficial to the Test format of the sport to help aid the bowlers.
To further understand cricket formats and the number of overs which are needed to be played in each game, head over to Betwala.
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