During the one-day international match against Nepal, UAE was given a penalty of five runs. I’ll Explain Why

Following the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to implement a permanent ban on the use of saliva to polish the ball, the national team representing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the first team to be penalised for breaking the rule during a match against Nepal. As a result, Nepal was awarded five penalty runs.

Alishan Sharafu of the UAE used his saliva to polish the ball during the second one-day international match against Nepal. Following the observation of his behaviour, the on-field umpires Vinay Kumar Jha and Masudur Rahman assessed five penalty runs to Nepal in accordance with the new regulation that went into effect in September of this year.

Because of the risk posed by COVID-19, the use of saliva was prohibited for more than two years. This was done as a preventative step. In September, however, after a meeting of the ICC Cricket Committee, this restriction was transformed into a permanent rule.

The one-day international status was awarded to the ongoing three-match series between both sides, and this regulation was automatically enforced as a result.

A former member of the ICC panel of umpires confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the following rule applies: “If the umpires spot someone applying saliva on the ball in a blatant manner, there is no option but to award five penalty runs to the oppositions immediately.”

“In the beginning, when the rule was first put into effect after the pandemic, there was some leeway given to the fielding team in the form of two warnings. This was done because everyone was still getting used to the new regulation at the time.

Simply because there was a different regulation, we used to go to the captain and let him know what was going on. After two years, both teams and players have become accustomed to it “the referee continued.

During their run chase for 191 runs, Gulshan Jha, who was only 16 years old at the time, and Aarif Sheikh, who was not out at the time, combined for an eighth-wicket stand of 62 runs, which helped Nepal win the match by three wickets and level the series.

On Friday, the game that will determine who wins the series will be played.