Indian team leader Rohit Sharma talked about the claims of cheating with the ball made by ex-Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq against Indian players. Inzamam said that Indian player Arshdeep Singh cheated with the ball during India’s important game against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024 in St Lucia.
The Indian team won against the Australians by 24 runs after protecting a score of 205. Rohit Sharma played very well, scoring 92 runs, and the bowlers also did a great job keeping the Australian team to 181 runs.
When asked about Inzamam’s accusations, Rohit suggested that people should think carefully. “What can I say? If you’re playing in hot weather on dry pitches, the ball naturally reverses. This happens to all teams, not just us. It’s important to apply your mind. You need to consider where we’re playing. We’re not in England or Australia,” Rohit explained during a press conference before the semifinal match against England.
Inzmam said that the Indian fast bowlers, including Arshdeep Singh, were cheating by changing the ball’s condition. He noticed that the ball started to swing in a different direction during Arshdeep’s 15th over, which usually happens later with a new ball. This suggests the ball was prepared for this unusual swing by the 12th or 13th over. Inzmam thinks the umpires need to watch closely to catch such actions.
“If Pakistani bowlers were the ones reverse swinging the ball, it would have been a major problem. We understand reverse swing really well, and if Arshdeep can start making the ball swing in the 15th over, it shows that a lot of preparation had already been done,” Inzamam explained.
“For reverse swing to happen… see, Bumrah can do it because of how he bowls; but for some bowlers – their way of bowling and their speed, the ball needs to be in perfect condition and prepared well [to reverse]. It might be that the pitch was hard and rough, which could be why [the ball got scratched on one side], but these things need to be noticed,” he also said.
