Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq hit back at Team India skipper Rohit Sharma for his response over reverse swing allegations against pacer Arshdeep Singh in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
After India's 24-run win against Australia, Inzamam-Ul-Haq accused Arshdeep for tampering with the ball to reverse swing it in the 15th over of the Super 8 match. The former Pakistan captain believed that India had done some serious work on the ball to extract reverse swing that impacted the outcome of the game.
Responding to the allegations by Inzamam-ul-Haq, Team India skipper Rohit Sharma said that the ball will reverse swing on its own as it is humid and wickets are dry in Caribbean, while urging the former Pakistan captain to open his mind and understand the conditions on which the players are playing.
"Since there is so much humidity and the wickets are dry, the ball will reverse on its own. Every team is reverse swinging. Sometimes, it's also important to open the mind a bit and understand the conditions in which are playing. We are not playing in England or South Africa." India skipper said at the press conference ahead of the semifinal against England.
Inzamam-ul-Haq responds to Rohit Sharma's comments
Speaking on a Pakistan news channel News 24, Inzamam-ul-Haq warned that Rohit shouldn't teach the orginators of the reverse-swing. The former Pakistan captain added that he didn't accuse Arshdeep Singh of ball tampering rather suggested umpire to keep his open to understand why it's happening.
"Of course, we will use our brains. First of all, he (Rohit Sharma) said that reverse swing was happening, which we had mentioned. Rohit Sharma doesn't need to explain to us how reverse swing happens and on which pitch it happens. He doesn't need to teach the teacher about reverse-swing." Inzamam-ul-Haq said.
"I wasn't saying that the ball was being dabbled with to extract reverse swing. I had suggested to the umpire to keep his eyes open. I am telling the umpire again to keep his eyes open to see why it is happening. If the umpire keeps his mind open, things will be better." he added.
India defeated Australia by 24 runs in their final Super 8 fixture and qualified for the semifinal against England. Arshdeep Singh was one of the instrumental players in India's win as he picked three wickets while conceding 37 runs to restrict Australia 181/7 when they were chasing 206-run target.
Rohit Sharma & boys defeated England to set up title clash with South Africa
Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue advance to the Final of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a convincing 68-run win over England in the semifinal in Guyana on Thursday, June 27.
After posting a total of 171/7, thanks to Rohit Sharma's fifty and vital contributions from Suryakumar (47) and Hardik Pandya (23), Indian bowlers did a brilliant job to bundle out the defending champions for 103 in 16.4 overs. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav triggered a collapse in England's batting.
Kuldeep Yadav led India's bowling attack as he registered figures 3/19 with an economy rate of 4.80 in four overs, while Axar Patel too picked three wickets while conceding 23 runs with an 5.80 in his full quota of four overs.
Team India will look to end their 11-year ICC title drought when they take on South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final in Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
