"Ye cartoon giri kahin aur chal sakti hai"- Mohammed Shami takes an indirect dig at Inzamam-ul-Haq over ball-tampering allegations
Veteran Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami took a cheeky dig at former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for the latter's comments on Indian pacers getting the ball to reverse swing. During the T20 World Cup, Inzamam claimed that Arshdeep Singh was getting the ball to reverse in the 15th over, indirectly accusing the Indian bowlers of tampering with the ball.
Here's what Inzamam said on a local Pakistan news channel:
"Arshdeep Singh, when he was bowling the 15th over, the ball was reversing. Is it too early (for reverse swing) with the new ball? This means the ball was ready for reverse swing by the 12th or the 13th over. Umpires should keep their eyes open (to spot) these things"
Mohammed Shami, however, was having none of it as he indirectly slammed Inzamam-ul-Haq's comments, terming it as 'cartoonish behavior'. The Indian pacer said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel:
"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, it could result in a boundary. Ye cartoon giri kahin aur chal sakti hai, yeh public ko bewakoof banane wali baate hain (This kind of cartoonish behavior can happen elsewhere; these are just ways to fool the public)."
Shami called out the double standards of former Pakistan cricketers and cricket experts as they didn't make such allegations when the Men in Green pacers got the ball to reverse.
Mohammed Shami also recalled Hasan Raza's allegations
During the ODI World Cup last year, former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza claimed that the Indian pacers had been using a ball with a chip in it so that they could swing the ball big both ways.
Mohammed Shami, who had already rubbished the comments in the past, once again took the opportunity to mock the former cricketer.
"Pakistanis were never happy with us and will never be - someone said we are being given a different ball, someone said there is a chip in the ball. I have previously mentioned that if I ever get an opportunity or a platform in the future, I would definitely like to open the ball and show whether there is any device inside or not," he stated in the same interaction.
Mohammed Shami missed the IPL 2024 season and the T20 World Cup as he had been recovering from an Achilles tendon surgery.