Sachin Tendulkar takes cheeky dig at Malinga's run up, quips 'will have to change'

With international cricket eyeing resumption post the COVID-19 forced halt, former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took a cheeky dig at Sri Lanka's speedster Lasith Malinga. Sharing an image of Malinga's run-up ritual where he kisses the ball, Tendulkar quipped that 'someone' will have to change his run-up routine with the new ICC rules. The Indian legend was referring to the recent ban on the use of saliva imposed by the apex cricket council. 

The new changes introduced by the ICC aimed at mitigating the risks posed by the COVID-19 virus and protect the safety of players and match officials has completely banned the use of saliva to shine the ball. During the initial period of adjustment, umpires will be lenient on the use, however, subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning, ICC had announced. 

"A team can be issued up to two warnings per innings but repeated use of saliva on the ball will result in a 5-run penalty to the batting side. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences," the ICC stated. 

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ICC introduces new rules for post-COVID cricket

The ICC has also introduced 'COVID-19 Replacements' in case a player shows symptoms of Coronavirus during a Test match. In line with concussion replacements, the Match Referee will approve the nearest 'like-for-like' replacement. These replacements will not be permitted in ODIs and T20s. Furthermore, the ICC has barred the requirement to appoint neutral match officials temporarily. "The ICC will be able to appoint locally based match officials from the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Officials and the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Officials," it said. 

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Apart from these, ICC has also introduced an additional unsuccessful DRS review for each team in each innings of a match highlighting that there may be less experienced umpires in matches at times. This shall increase the number of unsuccessful appeals per innings for each team to three for Tests and two for the white-ball formats.

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Cricket set to resume

International cricket is set to resume with the 3-match Test series between England and West Indies in July. The West Indies team have already completed their isolation period and are set to play a practice match at Manchester. The first test of the series will commence on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl. The second and third test will be played at the Old Trafford subsequently dates for which are July 16 and July 24. The ECB while announcing the proposed schedule had stated that decision on other scheduled matches for England Men and England Women this summer will be determined at a later date.

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