'Ek Namuna Aur...': Mohammed Shami's Blistering Response to Query on Inzamam-ul-Haq's Ball-tampering Claims

Star Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has slammed former Pakistani cricketers and experts after they accused Indian players of tampering with the ball during the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024 matches. During the 50-over megaevent played in India last year, many former Men in Green cricketers made bizarre claims, and the same were voiced once again this year as well.

Reacting to the accusations made by the neighbours, Shami, who finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 10-team tournament played entirely in India last year, said that Pakistanis were never happy with us (Indians) and they will never be. He remarked that when Pakistani bowlers do a reverse swing, it is called a skill, but when Indians do the same, they call it tampering with the ball.

“Pakistanis were never happy with us and will never be. Someone said we were being given a different ball, and someone said there was a chip in the ball,” Shami said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.

“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. If your bowlers do swing and reverse swing, then it is skill; if we do, then we are tampering with the ball and chip on the ball,” he added.

According to the star pacer, who dismissed 24 batters in seven matches of the ODI World Cup last year to finish as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, Pakistan cricket experts can never accept the fact that Indian bowlers can reverse swing without using unfair means.

“Abhi fir aur aya hai. Ek namuna aur khod ke diya hai inhone ki vo Arshdeep ne reverse kaise kara di. Aur vo (Inzamam-ul-Haq) bhai gyaan de rahe hai ki aapne ball ke saath kuch kiya hai, nigaah rakhi hai. Vo log sikha rahe hai ki ball se ched-chaad naa kari jaaye. Jo unke against perform karegi team wo wahan par target hoti hain. Manlo maine device se ball daal diya aur button ulta dab gaya. Maine inswing daali, but outswing ho gayi toh chauka ho jayega. Ye cartoon giri kahin aur chal sakti hai, yeh public ko bewakoof banane wali baate hain (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, resulting in a boundary. This kind of cartoonish behaviour can happen elsewhere; these are just ways to fool the public),” he added.

Shami performance in ODI World Cup 2023

In the ODI World Cup last year, Shami warmed the bench in the first four matches for Team India, but after Hardik Pandya was sidelined due to injury, he got a chance to play, and he made the most of the opportunity to make a big name for himself. During the semi-final match played against New Zealand in Mumbai on November 15, he dismissed seven Kiwi batters for 57 runs to register the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs.

He was unlucky to miss out on a place in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup last month due to an injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup last year. He is expected to make his comeback in the next couple of months.