India vs England , 3 rd Test Alastair Cook seeks clarity from ICC on ballshining practice The Indian Express Source Reuters The ageold practice of shining the cricket ball has become a grey area and the game ' s governing body must provide clarity to end the prevailing confusion , England captain Alastair Cook said on Friday . His India counterpart Virat Kohli was accused by a section of British media of shining the ball with sugary saliva in the first Test at Rajkot even though no charges were levelled against him . I think the players are now , after the last 10 days , probably just looking to the ICC to clarify what is acceptable and what is not acceptable . Cook was not sure how much it actually helped but preferred clearer guidelines . Television footage appeared to show du Plessis applying saliva to the ball while sucking on a sweet during the Hobart test against Australia but the Proteas captain has decided to appeal the ICC decision which cost him his entire match fees . The method , ostensibly to generate more swing with the ball with one shiny side , has come under scrutiny after South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was declared guilty of balltampering by the International Cricket Council ICC earlier this week .