In A Bid To Combat Coronavirus, Indian Players Might Limit Saliva Usage For Shining The Ball

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has hinted that Team India may keep the use of saliva to shine the white ball to a minimum in order to reduce risk of coronavirus infection. The first ODI vs South Africa will be played in Dharamsala on March 12.

''We have thought about this thing but I can't say right now we will not use saliva because if we don't use saliva then how will we shine the ball. Then we will get hit and you people will say you are not bowling well,'' he said while talking to the media as per a PTI report.

This is his comeback series and Bhuvneshwar insisted that all the necessary precautions will be taken.

But he also refused to speculate if the IPL would be affected by coronavirus.

"You cannot say anything right now because it's taking a dangerous situation in India. But we are taking every precaution we can take. We have a team doctor with us and he is giving us instructions about dos and don'ts. So we hope it won't spread much further,¡± he went on to say.

"Few dos and don'ts which the team doctor wants us to do. Simple things like maintaining hygiene, keep washing your hands regularly and not going closer to fans and all those things. But we cannot avoid fans because they love us, they support us. In the meantime, we can try and not get too much closer to them. We can avoid as much as we can."

Meanwhile South Africa's coach Mark Boucher said his side might avoid handshakes while in India.

In spite of the threat, South Africa decided to come to India after their medical and security assessments were complete.

The other two games are in Lucknow on March 15 and Kolkata on March 18.

It remains to be seen if India actually cut down on saliva usage. Having said that, how much of an effective measure it will be only time will tell. Let's just sit back and enjoy the cricket as fans. Let the players do what they do best, play the game.