Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has dismissed the comments made by his former teammate Hasan Raza regarding Indian bowlers being provided with different balls to bowl within the ICC World Cup 2023.
Wasim, who is often referred to as the 'Sultan of Swing,' refuted these allegations while stressing the significance of solid evidence in the realm of cricket.
“I have been reading about it from the last couple of days. I want to have the same things these guys are having. Don’t make fun of us in front of the world, please keep those insults to yourself,” Akram said on a local sports channel.
Former Pakistan batter Hasan Raza had accused India of foul play, saying the ICC and the BCCI are favouring the Indian bowlers by giving them special balls.
“We are seeing that when they are batting, they bat really well and suddenly the ball starts doing things when India bowls. There have been 7-8 close DRS calls that have gone in their favour. The way Siraj and Shami were swinging the ball, it seemed like the ICC or the BCCI were giving them different and suspicious balls in the second innings. There needs to be an inspection done on the ball. There could also be an extra layer of coating on the ball for swing,” Raza told a Pakistani news channel.
Meanwhile, Wasim Akram explained how the balls are picked by the teams before the match in the presence of the fourth umpire.
“It’s a very simple thing. The fourth umpire come up with a box of 12 balls. The team that wins the toss, and if they are bowling then that team would pick the two balls in front of four umpires and the referee,” he said.
“The on-field umpire will keep the first ball in their right and the second in left pocket. Then the remaining balls they take to the other dressing room in a box with lot of people with him. The second team will pick two balls and thereafter, those two balls will be shown to the on-field umpire explaining them exactly which team has picked what. I don’t know who comes up with such conspiracy theory,” he added.
Akram also stressed why the Indian bowlers are bowling better in comparison to the others.
“The argument in our country for the past three-four days is that no other bowlers are able to swing the ball. Also think, these bowlers maybe they have learnt something more, maybe they are better right now. Maybe we should appreciate them."
It must be noted that India have qualified for the semi-finals of World Cup 2023. They have won seven games consecutively in this competition and are yet to lose.