Covid-19 substitute to be treated like concussion substitute: ICC Cricket Committee chief Anil Kumble

ICC Cricket Committee chief Anil Kumble, in an exclusive interview with India Today, said players would prefer to play the game with some restrictions rather than not playing at all.

Speaking to India Today, former India skipper Anil Kumble said the global sporting body will monitor the constantly-changing Covid-19 situation and learn from it to ensure the safety of players and officials when cricket returns.

"Each day it has a unique challenge and players need to adapt to it. The new challenge will take time and even as a spinner, to grip the ball I would need saliva, its quite a challenge. But you ask a player, would you rather play just using saliva or play with restrictions, they would prefer to opt for the latter option."

The ICC approved the recommendations of the Cricket Committee earlier this week, thereby allowing Covid-19 substitutes in Tests and banning the use of saliva on the cricket ball. Apart from these, the ICC also allowed non-neutral umpires in all international formats and the use of an unsuccessful review for each team in each innings of a match.