Munaf Patel believes reverse swing is on its way to becoming a YouTube memory. And he thinks cricket’s administrators are largely responsible.
On Bombay Sport Exchange, TOI Sports’ YouTube show, the former India fast bowler traced the decline directly to the Covid-era saliva ban — a ban that he argues should have been lifted long ago but hasn’t been, because the wrong people are making the decisions.
“It depends on who is making the decisions. If you have the right people — cricketers — they will understand that saliva should be allowed. But when you have put office bearers in charge, they simply don’t know.”
Sweat, he explains, doesn’t do the same job. “Paani se nahi aata hai.” [It doesn’t work with water.] What works is saliva thickened by sugar — chewing gum, a jelly, anything sweet.
“Vo saliva mein aap jo agar koi chewing gum khate ho ya koi jelly khate ho toh usse thoda mota ho jaata hai — sugar ki wajah se.” [Whatever you eat — chewing gum, jelly — it thickens the saliva because of the sugar. That’s what makes the difference.]
Without it, Munaf is categorical. “Aane wale paanch chhe saal mein toh reverse swing bhool bhi jaayenge. Wo dekhenge sirf YouTube mein.” [In the next five or six years, people will forget reverse swing entirely. They will only see it on YouTube.]
But the saliva ban is only part of the problem. The bigger issue, in Munaf’s view, is that nobody wants to be a fast bowler anymore. The IPL has made white ball cricket the only pathway that matters. Red ball cricket is being abandoned at the domestic level. Pitches are batter-friendly.
And the NCA? “Aspatal ban gaya.” [It has become a hospital.] Players go there to get fit and come back. The technical work, the rebuilding, the actual coaching — largely absent.
He is not optimistic about the supply line. “If you ask me for bowlers who bowl at 125 kph, I’ll bring you a truckload. But if you ask me for bowlers who bowl at 140 plus, I may not even be able to fill a car.”
His solution is not complicated. Pay domestic players properly. Strengthen state-level infrastructure. Make red ball cricket mandatory rather than optional. And restore the saliva rule before the art is lost entirely.
“Ek culture hai jo khatam ho raha hai. Us pe kisi ki soch hi nahi ja rahi hai.” [There is a culture that is dying. And nobody seems to be thinking about it.]
