Star India pacer Mohammed Shami has hit back at former Pakistan cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq and dismissed his ball-tampering accusations against Indian bowlers, during the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024.
Inzamam had targeted Arshdeep Singh during the World Cup match against Australia, accusing him of manipulating the ball to aid reverse swing.
MORE: Why did Inzamam-ul-Haq accuse Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh of ball-tampering during T20 World Cup?
"When Arshdeep Singh was bowling the 15th over, there was reverse swing. I am wondering if it is too early to get that with a new ball, and by the time it was 12-13th over, it became suitable for reversing. Umpires should have paid attention," the former Pakistan batter said
"If it was Pakistan bowlers instead of India, we would have surely got fined. I know how reverse swing works very well, so if Arshdeep can reverse swing a ball in the 15th over, then I think serious tampering has been done on the ball," he added
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What did Mohammed Shami say about ball-tampering accusations by Inzamam-ul-Haq?
Mohammed was speaking on Shubshankar Mishra's YouTube channel in an interview titled "Unplugged ft. Mohammed Shami" when he was asked about baseless accusations by former Pakistan cricketers against the Indian cricket team.
"Pakistanis were never happy with us and will never be - someone said we are being given a different ball, and someone said there was a chip in the ball," he said.
Shami went on to say that he would love to put an end to these conspiracy theories of Pakistanis by cutting open a ball from which he had bowled, in the future.
He went on to add that it is a matter of skill for bowlers to either swing or reverse swing a ball, and not necessarily about tampering the ball.
"I have previously mentioned in an interview that if I ever get an opportunity or a platform in the future, I would definitely like to cut open the ball and show whether there is any device inside or not. If your bowlers do swing and reverse swing, then it is skill; if we do, then we are tampering with the ball and chip on the ball," he added.
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He then came to the defence of fellow Indian pacer, Arshdeep Singh who was accused by Inzamam of ball-tampering, on a Pakistan TV channel, during the T20 World Cup.
"Inzamam was talking about how Arshdeep had ball-tempered to get reverse swing. He is sharing his 'gyaan' that India had done something to the ball," he said.
The host asked Shami if it was a hypocrisy for Pakistan players to accuse Indians of ball-tampering, to reverse swing the ball, when Pakistan legends like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were masters at swinging the ball during their time.
The Indian pacer agreed and dismissed the baseless accusations by former Pakistan cricketers like Inzamam-ul-Haq, suggesting that they love to blame Indians for their losses, and added that it was simply engaging in 'cartoongiri' clownish behaviour, to get views on social media.
"The team that performs against them gets targeted there. Suppose I bowled with the device and pressed the button incorrectly. I intended to bowl an inswinger, but it turned into an outswinger, resulting in a boundary. This kind of cartoonish behaviour (cartoongiri) is not good; these are just ways to fool the public," Shami concluded.
Earlier, India's captain during the T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit Sharma had given a strong reply to Inzamam regarding this issue, suggesting that he should 'use his brain' instead of spouting baseless allegations of ball-tampering against India.
"It’s so hot here, and the pitches are dry. If it won’t reverse swing here, where will it be? We aren’t playing in England or Australia," Rohit had said in a press conference.
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