Sports

Ben Stokes caught applying saliva on the ball

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was caught using saliva to shine the ball during the second ODI against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.

Sentinel Digital Desk

PUNE: England all-rounder Ben Stokes was caught using saliva to shine the ball during the second ODI against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday. On-field umpire Virender Sharma was quick to spot the error and decided to warn Stokes for mistakenly applying saliva on the ball. The ball had to be sanitised as per protocol and the umpires also informed England stand-in captain Jos Buttler that a similar offence would attract a penalty of five runs for them. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had banned the use of saliva to shine the ball due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June last year. IANS