Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq advised the umpires to “keep their eyes open” as he questioned India’s bowlers’ ability to reverse swing the ball early during their crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fixture against Australia.
The legendary Pakistan batter highlighted that left-arm Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh was reversing the ball in the 15th over, which according to him is a rare sight in cricket.
“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.
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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.”
India booked their spot in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 with a 24-run victory over Australia in a high-stakes clash. The 2007 champions will now take on defending champions England in the second semi-final on June 27 at Providence Stadium, Guyana.