Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq made a bizarre statement during the 2024 T20 World Cup last month, accusing India of ball-tampering during their Super Eight match against Australia. While there was a back-and-forth between Rohit Sharma and the veteran Pakistan batter after the India captain lashed out at the allegations, veteran India fast bowler Mohammed Shami launched a scathing attack on Inzamam for his "cartoonish remarks."
Inzamam's allegations were against Arshdeep Singh, as he reckoned that India tampered with the ball during their match against Australia on June 24, which resulted in the left-arm fast bowler getting the ball to reverse swing. Former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik, who was part of the same panel, echoed Inzamam’s statement and said, “Umpires always have their eyes closed for some teams. India are one of those.”
Rohit later hit back at Inzamam during a press conference, as he explained the nuances of reverse-swinging before the latter responded by saying that India need not “teach something to someone who taught it to the world.”
Speaking to Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube show ‘Unplugged,’ Shami hit back at Inzamam for his bizarre remark, while recalling a similar allegations made against him by a former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“Apparently, I got a different type of ball in the World Cup. I even told in an interview that I would one day cut open the ball. In fact, I still have the Player of the Match ball with me. Abhi ek namuna aur khod ke diya hai innhone ki Arshdeep ne reverse kaise kardiya (Another person came up with a remark on how Arshdeep managed to reverse swing the ball). I have only one thing to tell Inzamam-ul-Haq: if you can do it, you are a magician, but when others do it, you call it ball tampering. It's unexpected when a player of his stature makes such comments. Take these cartoonish comments somewhere else. Getting the ball to reverse swing does not require any magic, you just need to maintain it properly,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Apparently, I got a different type of ball in the World Cup. I even told in an interview that I would one day cut open the ball. In fact, I still have the Player of the Match ball with me. Abhi ek namuna aur khod ke diya hai innhone ki Arshdeep ne reverse kaise kardiya (Another person came up with a remark on how Arshdeep managed to reverse swing the ball). I have only one thing to tell Inzamam-ul-Haq: if you can do it, you are a magician, but when others do it, you call it ball tampering. It's unexpected when a player of his stature makes such comments. Take these cartoonish comments somewhere else. Getting the ball to reverse swing does not require any magic, you just need to maintain it properly,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on a Pakistan channel, Raza alleged that India were given a different set of balls by the ICC and BCCI during the second innings of a match, allowing them to bowl better than any other team in the tournament. He even said "there needs to be an inspection done on the ball" as "here could also be an extra layer of coating on the ball for swing."