In Tuesday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, Robin Uthappa was spotted applying saliva on the ball while fielding in the third over. As a precautionary measure against coronavirus, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned using saliva to shine the cricket ball. However, the players are allowed to use sweat as an alternative to shine the ball. The incident took place in the third over when Uthappa dropped an easy catch after opening batsman Sunil Narine played a lofted shot in an attempt to clear the in-field.

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, according to the ICC.

After being asked to bat first, KKR made 174 runs on the back of Eoin Morgan’s well made 34 from 23 balls. In the final over, Tom Curran gave away 16 runs and enabled KKR to get past the 170 run mark.

Meanwhile, the Royals started the chase on the wrong foot as they lost skipper, Steve Smith, in the second over itself.

Even Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler failed to take the attack to the opposition as the batsmen looked to rush things rather than hold ends up and take the chase deep down.

Eventually, Royals were restricted to 137/9 giving KKR a 37-run victory.