T20 World Cup 2024: The ball dominated the bat in many of the low-scoring matches played in the USA leg of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Fans of Pakistan’s cricket team, however, are disappointed with their side’s performance at the World Cup while Afghanistan’s cricket team is receiving all the limelight. Rather of criticizing his team’s performance, former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq accused Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh of “ball tampering” after Pakistan was eliminated from the tournament in the group round.
When ‘Inzy’ mentioned that the umpires ignored Arshdeep’s move to reverse the ball in the 15th over of India’s victory against Australia in their final Super 8 Group 1 encounter, the seasoned hitter was speaking about that victory.
“Arshdeep Singh started reversing the ball when he bowled the fifteenth over. Is it too soon to use the fresh ball in reverse swing? Umpires should be on the lookout for these signs because they indicate that the ball was prepared for reverse swing by the twelfth or thirteenth over,” Inzamam said during a television show.
Salim Malik, a fellow panelist and former cricket player, said that the ICC and umpires turn a blind eye to some teams.
“As I often say, Inzy, there are some teams that people choose to ignore, and India is one of those teams. We were all shocked when Wasim (Akram) made one side of the bowling surface wet while he was bowling in Zimbabwe, and when I went to protest, I was fined a hefty amount,” he said.
When Justice Qayyum’s investigation concluded that Salim Malik had engaged in match-fixing in 2000, he became the first player to be banned from all cricket.
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Inzamam went on to say that there would have been a lot more noise if it had been a bowler from Pakistan.
“Reverse swinging the ball by Pakistani bowlers would have been a major problem (shor mach jaata). We are quite familiar with reverse swing, so if Arshdeep can start reversing the ball in the fifteenth over, it indicates that a significant amount of preparation has already been done,” he said.
