Arshdeep Singh’s reverse swing: Inzamam accuses India of ‘doing something’ with ball

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has questioned how Indian paceman Arshdeep Singh could reverse swing the ball as early as in the 15th over during the team’s victory against Australia in a Super Eight match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

On Monday (June 24), India defeated Australia by 24 to stay unbeaten and enter the semi-finals. Arshdeep was India’s highest wicket-taker in the match with 3/37 in 4 overs.

Chasing India’s 206, Australia were restricted to 181/7 with Arshdeep reverse-swinging the ball in the 16th over.

Inzamam, who was speaking on a cricket show on 24 News HD, seemed to allege that India was “doing something” to “prepare the ball” to reverse so early.

He added that umpires need to “keep their eyes open” and if Pakistan achieved the same reverse swing it would have been a “big issue”.

“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,” Inzamam said.

“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.

Another former Pakistan cricketer – Salim Malik, who was banned for life for match-fixing, supported Inzamam’s claims on the same show.

“Inzy, I always say this, eyes are kept shut when it comes to some teams, and India is one of those teams. I remember in Zimbabwe, when Wasim (Akram) was bowling, he made it wet, and we all were surprised at it; as in how come one side was wet, and when I went and complained I was fined quite heavily,” Malik said.