Social media was flooded with videos of the Uthappa picking the ball up during the third over of the Rajasthan Royals innings and move his fingers towards his mouth before rubbing briefly on the ball.
It is notable that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has strictly banned usage of saliva to shine the cricket ball as part of its detailed guidelines that were rolled out post resumption of cricket amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite timely reminders, players have been found violating the norm either by mistake or intentionally.
Uttappa's act of applying saliva on the ball is not the first one in the IPL, Delhi Capitals spinner Amit Mishra was spotted applying saliva on the ball during a match against SunRisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
In August, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir was pictured applying saliva on the ball during their three-match T20I series.
WATCH: Robin Uthappa Appears To Violate Covid-19 Guidelines As RR Batsman Spotted Applying Saliva On Ball During Game IPL 2020 Against KKR
Players have spoken about the need for them to break out of the habit of using saliva in the days since the ICC announcement. "Cricket balls and all that, yes, we have to be little careful of and get used to not using the saliva as well. So old habits, at times, just creeps in as bowlers. So, we will have to be mindful of that," said Zaheer Khan, Mumbai Indians Director of Cricket Operations .
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. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences.
Amidst the persistent Covid-19 threat, the 13th season of the IPL is being played behind closed doors with all the players, match officials and staying put in a bio-secure bubble in UAE.
The flagship T20 league was moved out of India due to the alarming rise in the Covid-19 pandemic and is staged across three venues in the UAE.