Rohit Sharma responds to Inzamam’s ball-tempering remarks

India’s all-format captain Rohit Sharma responded to former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s statement regarding ball-tempering by Indian bowlers in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fixture against Australia.

Addressing a press conference ahead of India’s semi-final against England, Rohit asked critics to “open your mind” and understand “where we are playing”.

“If you are playing under the sun and the wickets are this dry, the ball will reverse on its own. The ball is reversing for all teams. Not just for us,” he stated.

“Sometimes, it’s important to open your mind. You have to understand where we are playing. We are not playing in England or Australia,” Rohit Sharma added.

Earlier, Pakistan’s legendary batter Inzamam-ul-Haq questioned Indian pacers’ ability to reverse the ball early, accusing the latter of ball-tempering.

“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,” stated Inzamam on a local news channel.

“If it was Pakistani bowlers [reverse swinging the ball] this would have been a big issue. We know reverse swing very well and if Arshdeep can come in the 15th over and start reversing the ball, it means some serious work had been done before,” he added.

READ: T20 World Cup 2024: Inzamam-ul-Haq accuses India of ball-tampering

Inzamam-ul-Haq gave leverage to Jasprit Bumrah, considering his unorthodox bowling action, but reiterated that the ball had to be in “perfect condition” for the other bowlers.

“Because for reverse swing … look Bumrah can do it, because of his action; but for some bowlers – their action and their speed, the ball has to be in that perfection condition and prepared well [to reverse]. It could be that the wicket was hard and rough, that could be the reason [for the ball getting scuffed up on one side], but these things have to be noticed.”