IPL 2020: Robin Uthappa applies saliva on ball during Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders match

Senior cricketer and Rajasthan Royals batsman Robin Uthappa was caught on camera applying saliva on the fielding during the second innings of KKR. Uthappa dropped a sitter off Sunil Narine at the third over when the all-rounder was batting on zero. This one did not hurt the Rajasthan Royals much as Narine was out for 15 but a chance at an early wicket was wasted. Right after this disappointing performance, Uthappa put one of his fingers in his mouth and started rubbing the ball with saliva.

A team can be issued maximum two warnings per innings but repeated usage of saliva on the ball will lead to a 5-run penalty to the batting side. Umpires are instructed to clean up the ball whenever match restarts in case saliva is applied on the ball. As of now, there is no information about any penalties received by Robin Uthappa or RR.

Robin Uthappa is however not the only player in this IPL season to violate the no saliva rule as Delhi Capitals' spinner Amit Mishra was also seen applying saliva to the ball in a match that DC lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Mishra applied saliva on his hands and waited a second or so before using the hand to toss the ball up. This year, the International Cricket Council had put a ban on the usage of saliva in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The BCCI also banned the usage of saliva to shine balls at IPL 2020 in its SOPs.