IPL 2020 : Robin Uthappa Violated ICC Guidelines, Accidently Applied Saliva On The Ball

Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Robin Uthappa caught violating ICC Guidelines in a viral video shared on social media. It is claimed in video that Uthappa was applying saliva on the ball in an IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which is a violation of International Cricket Council (ICC) guidelines related to COVID-19.

The incident took place after the fifth ball of the third over on Wednesday when Uthappa dropped a catch of Sunil Narine. He was seen applying saliva after catching the ball and after this the video became a topic of discussion on social media.

The IPL has not yet released any statement regarding this incident. The ICC banned the use of saliva to shine the ball in June this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the game, ‘if the player puts saliva on the ball, the umpire will deal with this situation and will be generous during the initial phase of keeping pace with the players’ new process, but further on such an event, the team will be warned.’

The ICC guidelines state, ‘A team can be issued two warnings in each innings, but a five-run penalty will be imposed for the continued use of saliva on the ball. Whenever saliva is used on the ball, the umpires must clean the ball. ‘