2020 IPL: Accidentally, Uthappa Applies Saliva On The Ball Against KKR

COVID-19 protocol violation by Robin Uthappa:

In infringement of the COVID-19 protocol decided by ICC, Rajasthan Royals batsman, Robin Uthappa was seen applying saliva accidentally on the ball against Kolkata Knight Riders while fielding in the Wednesday (30-09-2020) match.

This happened when Robin Uthappa missed a Sunil Narine catch in the fifth ball of the third over. After collecting the ball, he was seen applying saliva at the mid-on space, and the video of applying saliva gone viral on social media.  So far, the IPL has not given any statement about it.

In this year June, ICC has banned applying saliva on the ball to shine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the Standard Operating Procedure for Cricket, it is stated “In case a player applies saliva to the ball, the umpires have to handle the situation with some easygoingness during the starting period of change for the players, but frequent instances will lead a warning.”

Uthappa Applies Saliva

As per the ICC notification, “A side can be issued two times warning in one innings but frequent saliva usage on the ball will result 5-run penalty to the opposite side. Whenever saliva is used to the ball, the umpires present in the ground will clean the ball before the game recommenced.”

The 12^th match of IPL 2020 is won by Kolkata Knight Riders by 37 runs and now KKR moved to second place in the points table with two back-to-back victories.